Training Log Archive: CleverSky

Harris Center social distancing course, 5.0 km. God, this place is hard. Or I'm dumb and sloppy. Or both. Disasters on 1, 3, 4, and 14. On the last one, I should have been able to see the control from the place where had stopped and was looking around, but I didn't and relocated. Moving pretty slowly, it's physically difficult to get through the woods at this place, never mind the technical challenge. I also took my time looking for crossings of the swollen streams around #10, maybe I would have been better off to just get my feet wet (what I likely would have done in a race). A lot of pre-hungry black flies in the parking lot, but I didn't notice any in the woods (Nancy's experience was quite different).

I was pleased to just get through this in under two hours. Surprised that my time was only a few minutes slower than Ernst's, though he was also intentionally going slowly.

I brought my old phone along, with the intention of doing the iorienteering thing with the QR codes on the controls. But I guess I flubbed something at the start, because all I could get it to say was "something went wrong", so I gave up and turned the phone off.

splits

C • Harris 20

On the Motobecane from where I parked the car to where I had stashed the boat.

Squannacook from West Townsend to the center in the blue boat, taking advantage of the high water from a couple of days of rain. Probably too much water, it was roiling and angry in spots. Five portages of various sorts, I think, including around the driftwood at both trestles, and around the old dam (I probably could have run that, but I'm not sure I would have survived). I lucked out at the start, because I almost picked a channel that looked good, but that turned out to be the sluiceway leading to an old mill, with a scary drop at the end.

I did have one mishap about halfway through, trying to run a barely submerged log, but the boat turned sideways, one gunwale went under, I got dumped out, and it fully swamped. I climbed onto the log and spent a while wrestling with boat, which was pinned against the log by the current. I finally got it up onto the log, and was able to move it over to a tiny island, where I was able to drain it. And then it started raining again, but I was already drenched.

When I plugged my watch in to download it, I noticed that it was running, I think the start button must have gotten bumped when it was sitting next to my gear shift. I would have just deleted this, but I was amused that AP correctly categorized it as "ignore this".

An uninteresting road loop while it wasn't raining. Slightly overdressed.

From Elm St. to Harbor Pond, in the blue boat. I've wanted to try this for a long time, maybe since I was a kid. I did paddle the lower part of this a few years ago, starting from the Harbor, but the river was full of obstructions that I had to portage around, and I finally gave up at Pat Tie's and it turned into a multisport adventure. This time I did it with the river level higher, and in a more appropriate boat. I had two very short portages (around one tree in the first case, and in the other I got out onto the log and lifted the boat over it), plus a few places where I had to do a limbo under a tree, and a bunch of places where I bumped or skootched my way over a barely submerged log. In the most extreme case, the top of the log was out of the water, and it took me several tries to get enough speed to get over it. At the pond, I did a little exploring of the complicated marshy delta, then went up Bixby Brook until I hit a beaver dam.

And then back via the rail trail to get my car. The trail is in a transitional state right now, and it's in pretty rough shape.

The shortest paved loop that goes around the lake, on this:

A Motobecane Super Mirage, from the late 1970s. I borrowed this particular bike from my friend Mark in the summer of 1983 in southern Pennsylvania and rode it to San Francisco. After that, it was sold to another guy, and a number of years ago he no longer wanted it, and he gave it to me. The tires were shot, and I just put it in my garage. I had not ridden it since before I met Charlie, or since before I ever did an orienteering course by myself, until today. No idea whether it still has any of the same components from back then, but it's the same frame.

C • Motobecane 11

37 F and raining, ugh, no thanks. But a bit of a ride seemed like it might be nice. And I opened up the garage door and had a nice view, so it was almost a little bit like riding outside:

Rollers are usually made of PVC or metal, but who would expect me to have normal stuff? These were made in 1973 by a guy my father knew. I think he had aspirations of starting a business to manufacture these, but only this prototype set ever got made, and Dad ended up with them after the guy died. Yeah, wood, built like heavy-duty barrels. Very large diameter as these things go, and I think they originally provided a very smooth ride, but over the years they've developed a bit of a warp or something, because now it's a little bumpy. A bigger problem is that they are not adjustable. Usually you can move the front roller forward or backward to compensate for the wheelbase of the bike, but these don't provide that flexibility. When I've used them the past few years, I've been riding the Incubus, which as a relatively modern bike has a significantly shorter wheelbase than what these were designed for, and the handling/balance is really challenging. I switched to a different bike today, and it was a lot more manageable.

A stroll with Nancy on some trails near her house. Overcast, but quite nice. Saw a buncha birds, including a swan just barely flying, and a bar dowel making some sounds that were not entirely the familiar queries about the kitchen staff.

C • bar dowel 3