Last Night Home

 If all goes well at my eye doctor appointment tomorrow I will on my way to Florida this time tomorrow. My appointment is at 5:30pm and I will be driving the van there, so I should be able to leave around 6pm or so. With the weather forecast for crappie rain and sleet all day, I will finish packing, do laundry and run errands in the morning. I even hope to go to my favorite local watering hole on Smithtown Road for sprint water to fill my drinking water before I leave. Going to end this post now because I can’t keep my eyes open. Good night more to follow.

Almost Time To Get Back INTO THE WILD

 Well..... I've been home since early October. I'm long over do to be back on the road. There were a few reasons why I came home from out west, to escape the smoke from the wildfires, an upcoming eye doctor appointment and the need for heat.  

My initial plan was to install a propane heating system, after much research and contemplation I choose to go with a Chinese Diesel Heater from Amazon. It took me a good month to finally drill the holes, run the wiring and mount the 5 liter diesel tank under my bed by the bikes.  To my delight the heater works great. I can run it all day long and it just sips fuel keeping the van at 68 degrees when it is below freezing outside. Wonderful. The idea was to spend the winter cross country skiing in Colorado and maybe do the Birkie 50k race in Wisconsin in March But....

My three month eye appointment after my detached retina surgery lead to more appointments and a cataract surgery two days before Xmas. As I understood it, the new lens from cataract surgery was going to give me better sight, I'm still waiting. Now I'm waiting for a few more follow up appointments before I head to Florida to hopefully race some gravel races and ride the velodrome. Warm weather is going to be nice. I have kept up with my riding. I still ride mostly 6 days a week, about 200 miles. And everyday it seems to be cloudy and 39 degrees, even when the forecast calls for the 50's.  

So tonight I watched the movie INTO THE WILD. I remember reading the Jon Krakauer book in 1996. It really hits home with how my travels were at the same time as Chris McCandless. The biggest difference is I was not running away from anything, I was exploring my world.  

Happiness is only real when SHARED

Another Week Goes By

 I got all of my medical appointments done, eye, blood work and flu shot. I’ve been riding every day and for the most part eating right while home. I started on my heater for the van, just haven’t pulled the trigger to drill more holes yet. I hope to finish it sometime this week but probably more likely next week. I get my father’s car worked on Wednesday and hopefully I can sell it. And I picked up my tandem so I can sell that also. Kind of robbing Peter to pay Paul to make this lack of working work.

With the fires still going strong out in Colorado and no snow yet, I’m not in a rush to get back on the road yet. I’m enjoying this beautiful weather here for now. 

Here is a quick write up from my doctor visit on Thursday while I was sitting in the doctors office and some pictures from the last week.

October 15, 2020

I’m sitting in the waiting room for my eye doctor appointment in Lansdale Pennsylvania. I have a 9:15am appointment so of course I’m here at 8:45am. 

This place is very efficient I got called back right at 9:15am. A quick eye test, I can still barely see the big E. The assistant gave me a perforated eye cover and I could see the big E and the next row down. Progress. She said the perforated cover cuts down on the noise. Interesting.

Next I went to another room to get my pictures taken. Pictures of my eyes. I believe pictures of the back of my eyes to be more accurate. This is so the doctor can see how I am progressing. 

Than I see the doctor. He is quite awesome. Tells it like it is and asks questions about me. I tell him about my riding and traveling and about how I walk into things in Walmart. He explains how I’m doing very good for just 3 months post op. The one year mark is the real goal. The operation causes my cataracts to progress faster so I will need another surgery sooner than later. Cool. 

But the best thing about this doctor is how he always says “What else?”, after every question answered. It feels like you could ask a never ending list of questions and he would answer them.  Very comforting. 

So now I have to call my normal eye doctor and make an appointment. 

Two Week Recap

 Thanks Jeff for reminding me to keep the blog going. I really do appreciate it. 

After my adventure with my drone I went to Laramie Wyoming got some supplies and new pedals for my Open. It was a cold day and I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a ride in because of the wind and 40 degree high. The guy at the bike shop in Laramie talked me into riding at Happy Jack Trails, he said it would be out of the wind in the woods and not that bad. Well he lied, the trails were great lots of fun but the wind was strong and very chilly. I had a great ride and even came face to face with a moose on the trail. We stared at each other for a minute, I slowly backed up and he magically disappeared into the trees. It is incredible how such a magnificent huge animal can so quickly vanish into the forest on a hillside.

Since it was going to be possibly below freezing at night I decided to skip the rest of the trails in Wyoming and head to Fort Collins Colorado for warmer weather. Also I have been thinking of adding a heater to my van for the winter and I had read about a place that sold them in Fort Collins. It was much warmer in Fort Collins. I got up early to be at VanCafe when they opened, that is where they sell Propex propane heaters. But with all of this Covid-19 stuff they didn’t actually open only virtual, all orders had to be online. I was hoping to actually talk to a real person and get good advice. Nope. And on top of that, when I looked online everything was out of stock, thanks COVID-19. 

Frustrated and not sure what my next move was going to be, I drove to Denver to hang out with my friend Caroline. I dropped in unexpected, heck I didn’t even know I was going until I got there, but Caroline is amazing. We spent the next week hanging out and riding between her work schedule. We went for a couple shorter mountain bike rides on her longer working days and rode up Mount Evans 14,000 foot highest paved road in North America. We went for walks with her dog Silvie a lot. I helped her with her Halloween decorations, she is a huge Halloween fan and is preparing for a big celebration. We got together with Kodie and her friends for a drum circle night outside by the fire pit. And even went to a birthday party with Caroline’s friends to play Pickleball and Karaoke.  It was a wonderful time and great friends new and old. I wanted to stay longer but I still had not figured out by heat situation. 

On Monday I met Chris in Boulder for a gravel ride. An incredible loop of double and single track gravel and dirt roads up and down the hills outside of Boulder to Nederland and back. When we rolled back into Boulder the smoke from the forest fires in Wyoming were starting to fill the air. It was the first time all week that I could smell the fires during my ride. I drove back to Denver and midway through the night I woke up to smoke in my van. I just turned on my exhaust fan to clear it out. It worked for a while. 

Because of my desire to add heat to my van and my desire to get away from the smoke I told Caroline I was going to leave Colorado in the next couple days. Figuring I had to go back home for my doctors appointment and I could use my garage and my tools to work on my van, I decided to drive home instead of flying. Really don’t want to get on an airplane either. I had plans to ride with Chris again in the afternoon in Morrison. I canceled because of the smoke and got out of town. Caroline and I went to the grocery store for lunch and driving supplies for me and right afterward I left. 

I left at 3pm on Tuesday and got home by 4pm Thursday for a bike ride with Ed and Scott. 

How did you spend your day?

 How did you spend your day

The past three days I have been at Glendo State Park in Wyoming. I had a good long road/gravel ride on day one. Starting with a dirt road loop past my campsite and I was having issues clicking into my right pedal so I came back to the van to change shoes. The rest of the ride was on the park road to the town of Glendo. So it was out and back. I was still having issues with my pedal on my way out to Glendo. When I stopped for a snack at the general store I noticed that the spring on my pedal was very loose. The whole way back I was basically pedaling with my left leg only, the right never stayed on the pedal. Now I need new pedals 

When I woke up on day two the wind was howling. It was a steady 25mph and increasing.  With the wind and the dust, this was going to be my rest day. I spend the whole day watching movies.

Today, day three, I got up early to watch the World Championships. It was a great race. Afterward I decided to drive some before going out for a ride because it was very chilly. I was heading towards Laramie. I stopped at The Thorne/Williams Wildlife Habitat Area for a break and to play with my Mavic Mini drone. That is where the story begins....... I’m in a beautiful canyon flying up and down the dirt road just at tree level. Because I don’t have cell service signal the DJI app won’t let me fly any higher than 50 feet. I’m keeping an eye on drone to make sure I was staying away from trees and rock walls. I flew back over the van and up over the trees in the other direction. I thought I was clearing the trees. But .... nope. 

I ran to where the drone hit the trees and began searching for it. Looking, looking,looking, nothing. The grass is tall and thick in places. I hope I don’t step on it. Maybe I can track it down with the controller using the map feature. Using the controller I was able to get very close to it. It says I’m within a few feet but where? I can hear the drone beeping. Is it left is it right, no left, no right. Wait  are my ears playing tricks on me? Oh crap....... it is up in the tree. But which tree? How high? I’m just not seeing it. It keeps beeping. Now I’m walking in circles looking up trying to see my drone. Beeping. Beeping. I know the battery will not last long. I need to find it before the battery dies. I go back to the van for my camera. Maybe I can find it with the zoom lens in the trees. Nothing. Beeping, beeping.  Why can’t I see it? Oh right, my eye sight is very crappy. I noticed on the iPad that the drone camera is still on. What is it looking at? No idea. I use the controller to move the gimbal up and down.  I can see the road. Let me stand where it can see me and I will be able to see it. There I am..... I just can’t see it. Beeping. This is not going to last too much longer.  I take multiple pictures in the hopes of being able to triangulate its location. Searching searching. The controller says battery level is critical. Another ten minutes goes by feeling like forever. There , up way high , is that it, I’m not sure, wait yes that is it , I can see the blinking light.       Now what?

It appears to be sitting kind of flat in the tree stuck in the small branches and leaves, about 50 feet up. How do I get it down, I try to relaunch it, hopefully it will shake it out. Nothing, battery is too low. Can I climb the tree? I am not a climber, heck I don’t like heights. As I am problem solving the beeping stops, the battery is dead. 

Now the rush is over, I can slow my thoughts, think clearly, what are my options. Okay, climbing is out, for me, but can I find a local rock climber or maybe a tree guy. I haven’t seen anyone for hours. Truly the middle of nowhere Wyoming, 40 miles to the nearest town.  I could give up and just call it a lose and be out $500 but the miniSD card has all of my drone videos from the last 10 months on it. Yes I have them backed up on a hard drive but still I don’t want to leave it up in a tree. 

I climb up the hillside next to the trees, still can’t see it but I know it’s there. Maybe I can throw something at it? Maybe, wait better yet a fishing pole. I can cast into the tree and knock it down. That’s it but I don’t fish and don’t have a fishing pole. But I do have kite string, I can tie a carabiner to the string and from up high on the hillside I can throw it into the trees. This is going to take some time and patience. I have both.

It is a little after 2pm, I have until dark about 4 maybe 5 hours. I load up a backpack with some rope, a knife, food, water and some extra clothing. It is getting colder and there is a few rain clouds in the area. So I climb back up to my perch about equal in height with the top of the trees on the hillside and make camp. I tie the carabiner to the kite string and throw it. Not bad, it goes into the trees but down to the ground. I climb down with my string in my hand, get the carabiner and shake the tree with all my might. Nothing. Am I in the right tree? I look up for the drone, can’t find it, did it already fall, I don’t think so. 

Finally I see it again in the tree. I don’t think I’m in the correct tree. It is so hard for me to distinguish between one tree and another because I am using one good eye. My depth of vision is just not working. Every time I see it in the tree I lose it a second later. It is crazy how it seems to be in one tree than another, higher or lower, not sure. I wind up my kite string and carabiner and try again. And again and again and again. I really don’t know how many times I threw it up into the trees but I know my arm is starting to hurt. It began to rain some and even sleet some. It was definitely getting colder and the sun was getting lower. Keep trying over and over again.

It is now almost 6pm, it looks like I’m staying here for the night. I take a break and walk the dirt road looking for a good place to camp for the night. About a mile away there is a perfect spot for me to stay. A small clearing next to the dry creek bed and a fire ring that I know I will not be using. Fire hazard is very high in the area and I know there are fires down near Laramie. I hike back towards my van but stop one last time to try again.

It again takes my a few minutes to find the drone in the tree. I begin to start my hike back up the hillside and the wind kicks up. I hear some rustling above me and my drone falls from the tree to the dry creek bed in front of me. THANK YOU FATHER! 

I know with all of my heart my beautiful father has been watching me all day ( everyday, I’m sure) and enjoying my process. He said it was time for a little help and blew it out of the tree for me, I am absolutely sure of it. 

I happily picked up my drone, broken prop, broken camera and all, and thanked my mother and father very much. Told them I loved them and missed them more than words every day. And I cried.

I got to my van, drove to my campsite for the night and made soup. My parents would have liked that.

The heroes of the story 

Devils Tower

 After a stop for gas and Walmart I was going to Wyoming. I had been talking about going to Devils Tower all week. It turns out I convinced Chris into going also. 

I don’t have a lot to say about Devils Tower. The pictures say everything.