Five Boro Bike Tour

Standing on Church Street while Waiting to Start

On May 4, I rode the Five Boro Bike Tour. This is an annual bike ride that visits all five boroughs of New York City on streets that are closed to automobile traffic. I’ve wanted to do this ride for a while, but hesitated because of its reputation for crowds and erratic riders. I knew I would regret it if I never tried it, so I signed up.

My wife and I drove up from Virginia on Friday and stayed for two nights in Newark. I took public transportation into Manhattan on Saturday to pick my rider’s packet up. My brief walk through the city reminded me why I can take big cities in small doses only. After picking the material up I had to exit the building through the gift shop, meaning, there were loads of vendors selling cycling gear. I think they don't offer to mail packets to riders because that forces riders to come on site and walk past the vendors.

On Sunday morning, my wife and I drove to the ferry dock on Staten Island and parked at the outlet mall. We boarded the ferry and went to Manhattan. Her plan was, while I rode in the event, she would visit friends. There were a few hundred other cyclists on the ferry, with their bikes, and wearing spandex and jerseys. When we reached Manhattan, I rode my bike on the designated route to the starting area for Wave 2, namely, Church Street. I had to listen to way too many speakers on stage talk about how great the ride is and how wonderful the sponsor is. I wondered whether they did this routine for every wave. Then a choir sang the national anthem, and we finally got the starting horn. I was way back in the pack, and the riders ahead of me were moving slowly to the start line, so we all straddle-walked our bikes to the start, where we were finally able to start riding.

My GPS Track from Lower Manhattan to the Staten Island Ferry

The route went right up the middle of Manhattan, on 6th Avenue, past Macy’s and Radio City Music Hall, into Central Park. The crowd of riders was thick; I had to spend so much of my time avoiding collisions and road hazards (parked cars, concrete dividers, bollards, vented manhole covers) that I didn’t get to enjoy seeing the sights along the way.

Google Earth View of My GPS Track through Midtown Manhattan

When I zoom into the plot of my GPS track, it looks like I was drunk, even disappearing into buildings sometimes. I think it was a combination of weaving through traffic and GPS receiver instrument error.

In Central Park I was amused by the many joggers who just wanted a regular quiet Sunday morning jog in the park, but instead had to deal with a massive swarm of cyclists. Finally the crowd thinned out after exiting Central Park and I was able to relax a little on the way through Harlem.

I crossed the Harlem River and then very shortly afterward went right back to Manhattan. The Bronx got short shrift on this route. Back in Manhattan, the route led along the East River on FDR Drive down to the Queensboro Bridge. This was the only spot that was dangerous: the riders bunched up on the climb, with some riders walking, others riding very slowly, and no one leaving room for riders to pass on the left. This is the only place where I saw a crash; I had to swerve to miss the fallen rider.

Into Queens I went, following the winding route, first North, then South, into Brooklyn, then through Brooklyn, finally reaching the expressway that leads to the Verrazzano Bridge. The headwind on that elevated road was pretty brutal. Finally I approached the bridge and I was worried that I’d have a hard time making the climb: my shifter battery died and I was stuck in a single gear, and by this point I had 30+ miles in my legs. I worried for nothing - the climb wasn’t all that hard. I coasted down the other side into the finish line festival. After a brief rest and water break, I got back on my bike and went back to the outlet mall where I was parked.

BIG LESSON: Always bring the battery charger on cycling trips and always check the charge the night before the ride. After getting home, I discovered that the wire that powers my rear derailleur was unplugged. This must have happened when I removed/reattached my rear wheel for the car trip. After plugging it back in, my gear shifting started working again.

I was surprised at how many women were riding. At home I see maybe one woman cyclist for every ten men riding near my home. I’m glad that there were more women participating. And there were lots of black and Asian riders. I’m glad there are so many people of color participating in what in Virginia seems to be a white- male-dominated sport.

I saw one guy wearing blue jeans while riding; seems like a recipe for pain. Lots of people wore plain athletic shorts and t-shirts. But most wore typical cycling clothing: spandex and jerseys. It was cool, and started out cloudy, then cleared up to be pretty sunny, and by the time I got to the finish line it was overcast. It started raining after I got back to my car, so I managed to stay dry. When I left the car on the way to Manhattan, I decided to leave my jacket behind, which turned out to be a good move because I didn’t need it. Well, I didn’t need it on the ride. I wished I had it on the ferry because the doors were open and it was cold on the water.

I saw a few recumbent bikes, a few tandems, a few elliptical bikes, and even a few hand bikes. But the most unusual was a Penny Farthing. I saw him at the start, and again in the parking lot when I packed up; he apparently parked in the same place that I did. I would have liked to see how he did the climbs and descents.

There were several rest stops with water and toilets. I didn’t stop at any of them; I didn’t need to. So I can’t comment on the rest stops with respect to water, toilets, or food.

Overall, it was about 42 miles of riding, including the ride to the start from the Manhattan ferry terminal, and the ride from the finish festival back to the ferry terminal on Staten Island. I’m glad I did it; I had fun; I doubt I’ll do it again.

After the ride, my wife and I met at the parking garage. I changed into street clothes and we headed home. This was our first road trip in her new electric vehicle. Finding and using chargers was an adventure in itself.

Galapagos Islands

My wife and I visited the Galapagos Islands in February. This was my first trip to South America and my first time in the southern hemisphere. The Galapagos Islands remind me of the Hawaiian Islands, at least with respect to geology. They also have similar invasive species problems. This was a fantastic trip, with wildlife, volcanic features, and wonderful visits to beaches and hills in warm, humid weather.

We flew from Dulles to Quito on Copa Airlines, with a stopover in Panama City. We had a full day in Quito, during which we rested and walked to the nearby botanical garden for a visit. In spite of its location on the equator, Quito was cool and damp because of its high elevation.

After our day in Quito, we took a bus to the airport. We had to put our luggage out the night before for invasive species inspection and sealing. At the airport, we had to go through hand luggage inspection in addition to security. We flew Latam Airlines to San Cristobal Island, with a stopover in Guyaquil. The airport on San Cristobal was a typical small-island airport - no air conditioning, only one area each for arrivals/departures, and a long line to get through entrance control. Even though this was a domestic flight, we still had to clear passport control and provide documentation that showed why we were there and when we were leaving. After passing through all that, we had to wait, as a group, for all of the luggage to come off the plane, where it was lined up in rows and, when it was all out, a cop with a dog briefly inspected it. He selected a few bags for more-thorough inspection and then the rest of us could claim our luggage and leave.

We boarded some hot buses and made the short trip to the marina. There we waited on the dock for our turn to ride a zodiac to the ship. There were sea lions on the dock, sleeping. There were sea lions on the rocks, sleeping. There were sea lions in the water. There was an iguana running among us, and we had to be careful to avoid stepping on it.

When our turn came, we boarded a zodiac and rode out to the ship, the Silver Origin. There was significant swell, which made getting into/out of the zodiac an adventure, which we repeated twice a day for the next week. Once aboard the ship, we immediately noticed that it rolls, constantly. We’re used to much-larger ships that have better stabilization so this was a surprise. I never got seasick; it was never uncomfortable, but always noticeable. We waited a while for our turn to check in, then went to lunch, then finally got our key cards for our cabin. We unpacked, watched the safety video, went to the muster drill, had a quiet afternoon as the ship departed port, and were quietly sitting in our room when we had our first stop: Kicker Rock. I opened the window to take a few shots from our room.

Kicker Rock

This is when we noticed that the AC wasn’t working. It never turned back on after I closed the window, so we had a warm first night. We reported to our butler (that’s what the staff calls them) and he got it fixed while we were on our first outing.

This was an expedition ship, which means it is small, which means there’s also a meeting every night before dinner with a brief educational presentation followed by the activity director’s description of the next day’s activities. I was dubious about the value of these nightly meetings, but the educational info was mildly interesting and the description of the next day’s activities was crucial for making good decisions about what to do.

I used the Apple Journal app on my phone to keep track of what we did each day. I grabbed screen shots of the map at each stop so I had a record of the location of each activity. The ship has good Wifi so I was always able to get good maps.

Our first morning, I went with the “power walk” group to a hilltop viewpoint on St. Bartoloma Island. We climbed (on a boardwalk with steps) to the top of a volcanic cone, where we had a great view of the volcanic features around us.

St Bartoloma looking toward Santiago

The ship repositioned during lunchtime to a place off Santiago Island where we had an afternoon zodiac tour of the shore. Then briefings, dinner. This was the pattern for the whole trip: a morning activity, the ship might reposition, then an afternoon activity, then briefings, dinner, bed. Sometimes there was a second morning activity. There were walks ashore, zodiac tours, snorkeling, kayaking. There was hot weather and hotter weather. There were brief periods of blue sky, mostly partly cloudy days, and some overcast periods. There were torrential overnight downpours. What there wasn’t was a clear sunset or sunrise. And I was hoping for clear nighttime skies to see the dark sky, but we barely saw the stars. Having said all that, we did have good weather for all of our landings except one: a wet landing where the waves picked up as we returned to the ship and I got hit by waves up to my waist and then got rained on.

We also visited Isabella, Fernandina, Floreana, and Santa Cruz Islands. Each island has its own geography, wildlife, and unique places to visit.

After seven nights aboard, we disembarked at the same port where we embarked, saw the sea lions again, rode a bus to the airport, went through security again, and flew to Guyaquil on Latam. We stayed at a hotel in town until midnight, when we went back to the airport for our 3AM flight on Avianca Airlines. We had a stopover in Bogota, then returned to Dulles.

Wildlife seen: Iguanas, sea lions, lava lizards, Nazca and Blue-footed boobies, sea turtles, penguins, porpoises, and tortoises.

Photography from a zodiac in waves was an adventure. Aside from that, landscape photography was pretty good, with good light most of the time. Wildlife photography was also quite easy because most birds, iguanas, and sea lions were unbothered by close approaches. For landings, I used my 70-200mm lens for most shots and rarely wanted a different lens. I kept a second body handy on the ship with my 300mm lens attached and used that a few times for wildlife. I also brought my 24-70 lens, and there were a few times that I used it for interesting landscapes visible from the ship. I also used my phone a lot.

The Silver Origin was very nice. It accommodates up to 100 passengers, with a crew of about 100. Our room was comfortable and quiet. The constant rolling took some getting used to. The dining room food was good. Most nights, we chose to eat in the outdoor grill on the top deck. The expedition staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. We had daily interaction with them. The zodiac drivers seemed to be the hardest working crew members, at least among those we saw. I’m sure the kitchen staff works pretty hard too. Every time the ship stopped, the zodiac drivers immediately launched boats and took the expedition leaders out to scout the area before taking passengers. The zodiacs were constantly on the move until the last people came back aboard after a stop. Then the drivers loaded the zodiacs back on the ship. First out, last in. The crew was diligent about making sure we always had life vests on when we left the ship, and we had to swipe our room cards every time we entered/exited. We were invited on a tour of the bridge. It was very interesting to see how highly-automated it is.

Here’s a sample of the many photos I made on this wonderful trip.

Mating Tortoises

Yellow Warbler

Galapagos Giant Tortoise

Silver Origin

Land Iguana

Blue Footed Booby

Nazca Boobies

Volcanic Landscape

Sea Lion

Flightless Cormorants

Marine Iguana

 

Sea Lion

Galapagos Penguin

Flamingo

Katmai National Park

My daughter and I made a return visit to Katmai National Park. There was drama.

I’ve written previously on this blog about my trip last year and, this year, the difficulty in getting campground reservations. This is how the trip actually went.

The first bit of stress was after we boarded the airplane in Anchorage. The pilot announced while we were still on the ground that the weather conditions in King Salmon were below minimums and we might not be able to land. We took off, approached King Salmon, and had to do a hold while we waited for other traffic to attempt to land. A little late, we landed in King Salmon.

Having made the trip the previous year, we knew the process to use the water taxi. We waited, the van showed up, we rode to the boat launch, we boarded. Naknek Lake was smooth; we had a comfortable trip to the Brooks Lodge area. After watching the video about how to stay safe around bears, we checked into the campground and pitched the tent.

We had three days of cold weather. The bears were less plentiful than last year and we saw no cubs at all. The fish were everywhere in the river, with their deep red bodies easily visible from the bridge. Most of our bear sightings were from the bridge.

Salmon in the Brooks River

There was a very windy day that cancelled all flights and water taxi trips after our second night. I was worried that the water taxi would not run for our return trip to King Salmon, and then we would also miss our return flight to Anchorage. The waves on Naknek Lake were pretty big (for a lake), and the bridge over the Brooks River shook below our feet when we looked for bears. That night as the wind blew it also started to rain. Thankfully our tent stayed upright and the inside stayed dry.

Our water taxi reservation was for 10AM. We knew that the water taxi’s first departure from Brooks was usually 8AM, so we got up early, packed our stuff away in the rain, and hung out at the lodge to try to get an early trip out. I was worried that the wind would pick up again later in the day and halt the taxi. We were able to leave early (and we were the only passengers) and then my daughter and I hung out at a cafe in King Salmon until it was time for our flight. The return flight to Anchorage was uneventful.

OK, time for bears…

Gully

747 and Chunk

Near the bridge

One of many fishing bears by the bridge

Brooks Falls

My daughter and I walked over to Brooks Lake on the one day that was sunny. It was so windy on Naknek Lake that the airplanes were landing at Brooks instead, so it got pretty busy there. The bugs were pretty bad that day in spite of the wind.

Staying in the campground was OK. My tent held up well even in the strong wind. Our sleeping bags kept us warm enough. We took showers in the bath house at the lodge and ate our meals in the lodge. The campground was completely full.

Compared with last year, the photography opportunities were disappointing, although I did manage to get a few shots that I like.

I doubt I’ll ever go back to Katmai; I’m glad I had the experience to share with my daughter.

2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Sun's Corona During Totality

We saw the eclipse; it was awesome!

It was quite the journey. Here's the GPS track, showing major stops. This was NOT what I had planned.

Route of Travel

Years ago, actually right after the 2017 eclipse, I started planning for the 2024 eclipse. I checked the historical weather maps and decided my best chance of clear skies along the path of totality would be in Texas. With about six months to go, my wife made a hotel reservation in Austin. Then I picked a couple of places near Austin as candidates to set up to watch and photograph the eclipse.

My wife took a flight to an event in Nashville the week before the eclipse, so we planned for me to drive and pick her up there enroute to Austin. By the time I reached Nashville on April 5, the forecast predicted overcast and rain for most of Texas, but clear skies in New England, so we cancelled the reservation in Austin and headed for New England. We stopped overnight in Ithaca to visit the city where my wife went to college. Then we went to Lake Placid because that was closer to New England and it was among the few places where we were able to get a hotel room. Then on the morning of April 8, the day of the eclipse, I checked the weather forecast one last time, and it looked like we needed to get beyond Burlington to the east for the best chance of clear skies. New Hampshire and Maine would have been better, but it's hard to travel east-bound in New England because there just aren't a lot of highways, so we went to Newport in Vermont. There was snow on the ground in Lake Placid and in northern Vermont.

When we arrived in Newport I chose Gardner Memorial Park as the place to watch the show. I picked a spot by the lake shore, set the cameras up, and waited under clear blue skies.

Camera Setup

Shortly Before Totality

Of course it didn’t stay completely clear. A thin cloud layer approached, and during totality we watched the eclipse through that thin layer. As it got dim, we could easily see Jupiter and Venus. Despite the clouds, we had a great look at the sun as it got cold, then dim, and during the final seconds before totality we saw the moon move to blot the sun out. We saw the corona and an enormous prominence with our naked eyes. I had one camera on a script, controlled by a computer, that snapped away. I had another camera that I shot manually, on a tripod, not looking at the camera at all, just using a remote trigger.

After totality, most people left. We waited for the end of the partial phase. After the eclipse ended, we checked traffic on the maps on our phones. Predictably, it was awful. I chose to avoid the interstate highway and instead took state highways to Burlington. There, we ran into traffic and slow going all the way to Glens Falls. When we finally got onto Interstate 87, traffic was very heavy but moving, and finally we stopped for the night at a hotel near the Albany airport. We returned home to Virginia the next day.

Here are a few shots of the eclipse.

Partial Phase with Sunspots

The shot above shows some large sunspots during the first partial phase.

Beginning of Totality

The shot above shows the beginning of totality, with prominences near the top of the photo, and just a hint of the large prominence at the bottom. The moon moved from bottom to top, with the top being the last part of the photosphere to be obscured, hence the prominences and glow at the top.

End of Totality

As totality ended, the moon moved to expose the bottom of the sun, showing some enormous prominences. We could see these with the naked eye. For reference, the large prominence on the lower left of the photo was several times the size of the Earth!

Baily's Beads

As the photosphere became visible, I got some fleeting Baily's beads.

Here’s my first/only attempt at a composite in Photoshop.

Composite

My wife’s family has vacation property in rural Maine. It’s inaccessible during the winter because of snow and the house is uninsulated, so, very cold. The path of totality did not pass over that property, but it did pass within a few miles. When I checked the historical cloud cover maps for April, I learned that there is often a lot of cloud cover. For those reasons, I never considered going to Maine for the eclipse. It turns out that they had fantastic clear weather. Maybe we could have gotten to the property through the snow, which by then was mostly melted. But I doubt it. Ironically the best place to watch was the place that I dismissed as infeasible.

So it was a lot of driving for only about three minutes of totality. And it was just as good as I remember from 2017. The next one in the US is a lot of years away. Maybe we’ll try for one in Australia.

Solar Eclipse Tomorrow!

The weather isn’t cooperating; I’ve had to make a drastic change to my solar eclipse viewing plan.

I planned to watch the eclipse in Texas. I got a hotel reservation. My wife had an event in Nashville. I planned to pick her up on my way from Virginia to Texas. But the weather didn’t allow that. By the time I got to Nashville, the forecast for nearly all of Texas along the path of totality was cloudy and possible rain.

I reached Nashville on Friday. The eclipse is on Monday. I checked forecasts for other locations on the path of totality. There were several possible openings, but New England was looking very clear. We cancelled the hotel reservation in Austin and made a reservation in Ithaca, NY, and Lake Placid, NY. We picked Ithaca because it’s reachable in a (long) day of driving (and my wife went to college there). We picked Lake Placid to get us closer to New England. We stayed in Ithaca on Saturday night, and now we’re in Lake Placid for Sunday night. Of course the weather isn’t cooperating again. I was hoping to go to Burlington tomorrow morning, but now it looks likely that clouds will approach by 2PM, just as the eclipse is starting. So now the plan is to go to Newport in Vermont.

Plans for the April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

In 2017, I travelled with my wife and son to Grand Teton National Park to watch the total solar eclipse. I chose that spot after consulting a historical weather pattern map, concluding that it was a great place to watch with a high probability of clear skies. It was a fantastic experience. My son was a teenager at the time and dubious about the whole trip. At the end of totality, he turned to me and said, “Now I’m ready for the one in 2024.”

Unfortunately he won’t be with us this time; he’s in college. But my wife and I are going.

My photo of the 2017 eclipse

My photo of the 2017 eclipse

Again, I checked historical weather records for cloud cover along the path of totality. This time it’s not great. The best place within the US appears to be in Texas. So that’s where we’re going. If I can believe the weather projections, there’s a 50-50 chance of clouds.

It was ridiculously hard to get a hotel reservation last time. This time we were able to get a room in Austin. So I’m planning to stay there the night before the eclipse, and check the weather forecasts for the next day to decide where to watch the eclipse. Afterward, my wife and I will start the long drive home to Virginia, with no particular plan for where to spend the night.

I’m undecided with respect to the location at which to watch the eclipse. I’m generally hoping to find a location somewhere close to the center line of the path of totality between Waco and Fredericksburg. But of course a few million other people probably have the same idea. We could just drive to the general area and look for a place to set up. But I wanted something a little more concrete as an option, not wanting to be stuck on the road somewhere in traffic unable to find a suitable place. I need a place where I can linger for several hours with a clear view to the south and access to a bathroom. 

So I decided to make a day use reservation at a state park. I reviewed my options, selected several parks, made a rank-ordered list, and waited several weeks for the reservation window to open. I made an account on the web site. A few minutes before the window opened, I navigated through the reservation process up to the point where it was possible to actually make a reservation. I attempted to reserve at Lake Whitney, pressing the button seconds after the reservation window opened. The result: server error. Lots of others had the same idea. I tried repeatedly: more server errors, until all of the reservation slots were taken. It took less than a minute. I tried my second choice: Meridian State Park. I was able to make a reservation there. So I have a limited access location (hopefully not crowded), not on a highway, with bathrooms, where I can linger. It only cost me $10, so if I find a better place I’ll just abandon this plan.

I wanted a backup location. Meridian State Park looks like there isn’t a lot of room to park with a good view of the sky. I searched more. I made a reservation in Gatesville at the baseball field complex. There are parking lots, bathrooms, concessions, and not very many trees. I’m hoping I can get a good spot for a clear look at the sky.

I love a photographic challenge, and total solar eclipses are definitely a challenge. I need a better plan than I had in 2017. I got some acceptable results then, but I can do better now. I have better equipment. I have the experience of last time from which to learn. I’ve found better resources to help me make a better plan. Presuming I have a good location and sufficient time to set up, here’s my plan:

1. Set up a GoPro to create a video of us as I go through the camera setup, wait for totality, watch eclipse, photograph all the way through the end of the partial phase, then tear down.
2. Set up a DSLR on a tripod with a wide angle lens to capture the partial phases with an intervalometer. Switch to video right before totality; switch back to the intervalometer immediately after.
3. Set up a second DSLR on a star tracker, use a laptop computer with a programmed shooting plan. Mostly ignore this one during the eclipse; let the automation do the job. The success of this one depends upon a good shooting script (using Eclipse Orchestrator) and a good polar alignment job. I tested the script and realized I needed a higher-capacity card. I’ve also practiced daytime polar alignment, with good results (the tracker keeps the sun centered).
4. Set up a third DSLR on a tripod to shoot manually. This one is my best lens and my best camera. I’ll set an intervalometer to run during the partial phases so I only have to keep the sun in the field of view. During totality, and for the transitions into/out of totality, I’ll shoot manually, with a plan will leave a lot of time for me to just look at the sun.

So there’s my plan; now all I can do is hope for clear skies and trouble-free travels. In the meantime, I’ve practiced setting the cameras and computer and tracker up. I’ve discovered some issues that I’ve learned from. I know it won’t all go to plan, but I’m hoping I get it mostly right.

Wherever I end up, it won’t be as photogenic as in 2017, but that’s OK.

Our view while waiting for the 2017 eclipse

My son said it was cold that morning before the sun came up

Brooks Lodge and Campground Reservation

I made a campground reservation at Brooks Lodge in Katmai National Park and Preserve. It was ridiculously hard to do!

Campground Entrance

In 2022, I tried to get a reservation for a room at Brooks Lodge, hoping to visit in 2023. I entered the lottery, and was not selected. But there was a cancellation, and the concessionaire offered me three nights in early July, which I accepted. My wife and daughter and I made the trip in July 2023 and we had a lot of fun watching the bears.

My daughter has one more year on her Air Force assignment in Alaska, so I want to visit her again and I want to make another trip to Brooks. The hotel is very expensive; this time we are going to stay in the campground.

Campground reservations are very hard to get. There’s no lottery; reservations are first come, first served. The reservations are usually completely taken within an hour of becoming available. And the reservation system makes all dates for the year available at once, at 8AM Alaska time on January 5. My daughter and I visited the recreation.gov site days before January 5 to become familiar with the site. I even went through the process of reserving a cabin in an unrelated location (without completing the reservation) just so I would be ready.

It turns out there are two ways to search, and I searched the wrong way. After logging in, users are presented with several links, one of which is entitled “Camping and Lodging”. This is the one that I tried to use, and the Brooks campground never appeared as an option even after conducting several searches. In the meantime, my daughter, luckily, used a different search box at the top of the page, with text that says, “What are you looking for?” She entered “Katmai”, and then got to the correct reservation page, but she only found dates available in June, which is much too early in the season. We talked on the phone and she described how she got to the correct reservation page.

I finally got to the reservation page and I was able to get three nights in early September. All reservation dates from early June to late September were gone by 8:30 AM Alaska time.

We originally wanted to get dates in late July, which is usually the peak of the salmon run, and consequently also the peak of the bear presence there. There’s a second peak in early September, so I think we’re still able to see bears again. Now I’m going to frequently check for cancellations, hoping to extend our stay.

We’re going back!