Author: Ken Steinhoff

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Lightning Over the Ocean

Anne and Osa and I were all set to do a short ride Sunday afternoon around 5:30. The temps were great, but the winds were in the teens out of the west, gusting to 32 mph. We were planning a north-sound ride to avoid the worst of it.

Just before I went out to pull my Surly Long Haul Trucker out of the shed, the sky opened up. I told the gals I was bailing. I don’t mind riding in the rain. I actually LIKE riding in the rain if I’m caught out in it, but I don’t like to START in the rain if I have a choice.

Bike riders can be SO smug

An hour or so later, Anne sends a smug email saying that she took advantage of a break in the weather to get in a 30-minute neighborhood spin. “Got misted just as I hit the elevator,” she bragged. “Now the sun’s out again!” To top it off, she followed it with a post, “Just stepped outside. There’s a rainbow over the Intracoastal, the sun is shining on my west side and it’s still raining a little bit. A trifecta!”

Just about the time Osa and I were exchanging emails lamenting our missed opportunity, the sky opened up again, the wind gauge looked like it was going to spin off the post and lightning flashed all around. We felt vindicated.

Spectacular light show

Half an hour later, Wife Lila looked out the window and said the light show over the ocean was spectacular. Foodie Friend Jan Norris posted something similar on Facebook, so we took a quick jaunt down to Bryant Park in Lake Worth where we could get a good view.

It took about 30 minutes to get our act together and get to the park, so we missed the peak lightning action, but what we DID see was awesome. It was far enough out to sea that we couldn’t hear the thunder, so I used Beethoven’s 5th for a soundtrack. It’s a cliche, but it seemed to fit the visuals.

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Biggest Bike Headlight I’ve Ever Seen

I was scanning photos of the visit of the Delta Queen steamboat to Cairo, Ill., in 1968 for my other blog when I spotted this bike. I thought he had a bowling ball attached to the handlebars.

When I blew it up, I could see wires hanging from it. It was the world’s biggest bike headlight. I’d love to know what he used to power it.

Delta Queen

Go here to see vintage photos of the Delta Queen before she was turned into a floating boutique hotel in Chattanooga.

Other posts about bicycle lighting

Here’s a year-end review of cycle lighting I did at the end of 2009.

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Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

It may be snowing up north, but we’ve hit the 90s down here in South Florida a couple of days this week. I didn’t realize how hot it had been until I went to hang up my Camelbak M.U.L.E. Hydration Pack this morning.

That whitish stuff on the strap is salt from sweat.

The black, tube-like thing is the insulated cover over the drinking tube. It’s called a Tube Director because it has a wire as part of the cover that will allow you to bend it to stay in one position. I have mine positioned so I can take a sip just by turning my head slightly.

If you don’t use one of these, you’ll find yourself gulping hot water until you suck the cool stuff out of the bladder.

I like Elete Electrolyte

The salt crystals have built up enough on the other strap enough that you could break them off.

Replacement for all that salt has to come from somewhere, so I put a tiny dose of ELETE ELECTROLYTE into the 100-ounce Camelbak bladder. I use a little less than the suggested 1.5 teaspoons. I like that it adds a slightly salty taste to the water, because it tends to make me drink more. The recommended dose tastes just a tad too salty for me.

Sons Matt and Adam like SPORTLEGS. Here’s Matt’s review of SportLegs

Insulated water bottles

Polar Bottle in the 24 ounce size versus the 20 ounce.

Matt did quite a comparison of water bottles back in 2008. I still like my 24-oz Polar Insulated Water Bottle . Riding partner Osa just bought a Camelbak Podium Big Chill 25 oz Bottle and thinks she likes the valve better than the Polar.

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8th Annual LOST Ride Video

March 26 was probably the best riding day of the seven Okeechobee Rotary Club LOST Rides I’ve been on. The temperature was just about perfect and the winds weren’t bad. I wish I had put on sunscreen about mid-morning, though.

If you took the time to look around, there were gators and wading birds galore. This was taken at Nubbin Slough. The black dots in the water are alligators. This is where a boy had his arm ripped off in 2008.

Video instead of stills

I normally put up a large number of still photos in a gallery. This year I concentrated on trying to capture the spirit of the event in a video shot with one camera looking forward and the other aft. (By the way, that annoying “click-click-click” noise is the carabiner attached to the video camera’s safety lanyard. I’m going to have to find a solution that is quick to release, but doesn’t make noise picked up by the mike.)

The “flow” was different this year, too. Usually I shoot the group start, which puts me at the end of the pack. I can usually work my way through about a third of the group of slower riders by about the 15-mile mark, at which time a lot of the faster riders are on their way back.

This year there seemed to be fewer “slow” riders and the faster riders were more scattered.

Henry Creek rest area

Ice-cold water, grapes and other goodies were welcome as the sun started beating down. Rumors that Henry Creek would be a beer stop were unfounded. (Or, maybe I just didn’t know the password.)

Folks along the trail were friendly

With very few exceptions, everybody on the LOST – bikers, joggers, dog walkers, volunteers – smiled, waved or spoke as we passed each other.

Nubbin Slough 10-mile point

Nubbin Slough was at the 10-mile marker. A 20-mile out-and-back trip was enough of a challenge for some riders. Others, like this biker, did the full 54.7 miles to Port Mayca and back to the start.

I hope the riders doing the Loop the Lake for Literacy this weekend have weather as good as we had.

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L.O.S.T. Ride Report Coming, Honest

I know I told folks I’d have an account of the 8th Annual Okeechobee Rotary Club’s Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail Ride-Walk-Run event posted in a couple of days.

It’s taking me longer than I thought to edit the video. I had one camera mounted to the bars facing forward, and one attached to the rack pointing the the rear. Trying to integrate those two views and their audio is more than twice the work of a single camera and infinitely more complicated than editing stills. (Particularly if you’re still learning the software one little skill at a time.)

Keep checking back. We’ll get there. (Great ride, though, wasn’t it?)