Training Log Archive: CleverSky

Nashua River with Nancy, orange boat. Windy early on, then pretty calm. We hightailed it out of the parking lot at the end in order to get as far as possible from the guy who landed his canoe just ahead of us, with about a dozen empty beer cans in it. Friendly enough, but likely to be a hazard in the road.

Unsurprisingly, I found an anonymous note in my mailbox from a concerned neighbor who asked if my peaceful weekend was disturbed by the loud music of the Unifier Festival, claimed that the permitting happened under some kind of secrecy, and warned that if we don't speak up it could happen again. It helpfully supplied the email addresses of the entire board of selectmen as well as the police chief. I wasted no time in sending off a missive explaining that I was one of the neighbors surprised by this event, and was somewhat upset that nobody invited me. I tossed in a Max Yasgur quote and said that if they want to hold another one, they have my support. Take that, grumpy neighbors!

Watatic with Patti.

Starting from the septiic tank cover, and trenching toward the opposite end. I found the metal loop that I assume is the inspection port for the outlet, and got to the far edge, so that next I can dig down, find the outlet pipe, and follow it to the distribution box.

Orange boat, with Nancy, downstream on the Merrimack from the Tyngsborough launch to Autoliv. They're apparently monkeying with the dam, and the water level in the river was several feet lower than it was last week, even all the way up where we started. Must have been amazing downstream when they let all that water loose. All kinds of exposed rocky reefs that you don't normally see, a wide beach on either shore, and substantial current when going past the country club island. Running out of light when we were finishing up, though there was a flock of kayakers heading the other way with glow sticks on their bows. Very nice evening.

Once again, my poorly-laid plans ganged a-gley...

The intent was a short road bike ride. Just as I was almost ready to leave, A few drops of rain came down. I stepped outside and looked at the sky, and it didn't look too threatening, so I put on my rain-tolerant orienteering glasses and went out anyway. I might have been better off to look at the radar.

A little light rain wasn't any big deal. On top of Bayberry Hill, , it went to moderate rain for a couple of minutes, still nothing to get concerned about. Going down Bayberry Hill Rd., there was enough water on the pavement that my socks got wet. But then I hit a stretch of bad pavement, and got a pinch flat on my front wheel. Annoying, but I was prepared for that sort of thing.

Fixing a flat is something I can do in just a few minutes, and all went well until I went to put some air in the tube and... I had a Schrader pump on the bike. That won't work with a Presta tube. Hmm. Considering my options, I decided that the best immediate move was to head to Mom's house, about 2 km away. I put the tire back on the rim so that it would roll, and walked bike down the steep hill and then up Rte. 13, during which time the rain turned to a thunderstorm, there was a torrent running down the shoulder of the road, and when I got to the house, I was soaked.

Next step was to get in. There used to be a hidden key, but that's been replaced with a lockbox. I knew the combination, but not how to operate it, so I called my brother for instructions. In the course of the conversation, I explained my situation, and he said that he could give me a ride if I could wait. He was in town, but at a business dinner, and they had just ordered, so it would be a little while. No problem, at least I could get in the house where it would be dry. (I could have called Nancy for a lift, but she was at a show.)

I found a floor pump in the shed, but it was also Schrader. I'd had hopes of finding an adapter, but we've already cleaned out the junk drawer, the tool shelf in the shed, and the drawers of miscellaneous tools in the attic. I went up into the attic, hoping that I could find a box of junk bike parts in the "waiting for the dumpster" pile, but I had no luck.

So since I had time to kill, I set about sorting through the Xmas Decorations pile and the Toys and Games pile, moving most of that stuff to the Dumpster pile. Good progress. Just as I was walking back toward the stairs, I stepped on something. There are random nuts and bolts and game pieces and jingle bells scattered around up there, but I happened to look at this trinket and it was... a Schrader/Presta adapter.

So I went downstairs and fiddled with the pumps and got things working just well enough to pump the tire to tolerable pressure when my brother pulled into the driveway. By this point it was pretty dark anyway, so I just left the bike there and he drove me home.

C • A fine tale, ending much to... 3