Solstice

Piedmont Park on the Winter Solstice:



2 years and nine months ago, I captured and posted the same scene for the 2007 Spring Equinox. The sun is closer to due east in that picture and at its most southern extent above.

Now I need to capture Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 5.7
Number of Cyclists seen: 3
In-bound Route: Piedmont Park (I was riding without a spare tube and took the shortest path)
Out-bound Route: Piedmont Park via Intown Bicycles to get a patch kit.
Weather: Frosty morning with gloves and long pants.

Progress?

We rode across a new bridge today. Cyclists would generally appreciate the fact that this bridge was wider and was higher so we didn't have to climb as far to make it back up the hill, but this one was disappointing.

The town of Rex is on the Quad County route that we rode this morning. One of the picturesque highlights of this route is a one-lane bridge that passes next to an abandoned mill.




The mill was built in the 1820s and had been used off and on until the 1930s. In 2007 when these photos were taken, the sluice is nearly completely gone and the site is overgrown, but you can see what the site looked like 25 years ago.



The new bridge diverted us around both the old bridge and the mill. We missed the highlight of the ride!

Next time we ride this route, we'll skip the new bridge, take the slow route, and climb the extra few feet so we can recall a piece of watermill history. At least the cars won't be in our way anymore.

Clicking the images will bring up a full-size image. Helps you climb into the scene.

Ride Summary

Round Trip Distance: 51.5 miles from Virginia-Highland
Number of Cyclists on the ride: 17 initially with 14 finishing with us.
Route: Quad County (courtesy of L5P Flyers) with modifications on the return to avoid Bouldercrest but catch a bit of fun on Weelaunee (between River Road and Flakes Mill).
Weather: Warm, but not as warm as we expected.

Is Critical Mass a Family Ride?

 

If I gave my short answer, this wouldn't be a very interesting post, so let me explain how I've come to my conclusion about my first Critical Mass. I had concerns about riding with the group but decided to see for myself what it was all about.

First, let me say it is a lot of fun. That many people riding bikes together is automatic fun. The fun started before we reached the start. As we rode through Inman Park, we started joining other riders headed over to Woodruff Park. Even if you didn't know anything about Critical Mass, you would suspect something was up because all the cyclists were headed the same direction.



The gathering crowd was quiet. I didn't see many families at first, but there were a few. This is mostly a 20-something crowd. I was concerned about how quiet it was, and then the calls went up to head out. This is when it started to feel like an event.

The reception on the streets was something to behold. Even though we were completely clogging up the streets, everyone treated us like we were a parade. Groups of people came to the curb and stopped to watch. Hooping and Hollering went back and forth. Everyone was yelling "Happy Friday!" The party had begun.

After coming through Underground and past the Five Points MARTA station, we turned onto Marietta Street toward Centennial Park. At that point, the police were enforcing the stop light at the intersection with Centennial Park Drive. The mass stopped and then was broken up into pieces by the police, but it was able to reassemble into a mass for a trip up Peachtree Street.

So many people were out this evening. Peachtree Street is where you felt you were part of something really big. This continued all the way up to 10th Street in Midtown where we broke for Piedmont Park. Again, I was impressed by how well received we were. People in their cars were honking happy horns instead of angry horns.

We made our way across the park over to Virginia Highland where we received another warm welcome. I was looking for angry motorists and only found one lady who was justifiably bothered by some cyclists who were in her oncoming lane. She was trying to get us to move over by waving her arms inside her car. Fortunately, most people simply took up the lanes going in the correct direction.

So, is this a family ride? I would say "Yes", but it is a slightly qualified yes. Let me list out the points:

• The pace is suitable for nearly all riders. We don't move fast and we stop or slow down frequently. There are many beginning riders.
  
• I was concerned about safety. This is probably an 8 or 9 out of 10 on the safety scale. The main drawback keeping this from being a 10 is there are a good number of riders who are inexperienced in riding in a group and sometimes they operate their bikes in spaces that are smaller than they are capable of riding within. I saw a few people bump into each other, but nothing to cause an injury.
  
• On this ride, there were people getting arrested. They weren't doing what the police officers asked them to do. They broke laws and the officers responded. I have no problem with that. It is part of how we educate proper road etiquette. Other rides educate also, but do a better job at avoiding arrests.
  
• The overall impression is one of fun. There wasn't any rowdiness or recklessness beyond the occasional rider taking over the sidewalk for a brief stretch. Except for those learning the hard way to obey traffic laws, there weren't any confrontations.
  

Final Grade: "A" - I would be happy to bring any family on this ride.

Lullwater Shade Tunnel

When I go to heaven, it's going to be like this. I'm riding my bike along a quiet road with a few other walkers and cyclists, the sun is filtered by a tunnel of trees, the air is cool and crisp, except the left-most portion of the image won't be a little out of focus. I rushed to get the pedestrian in the photo before the traffic came by and captured the wrong focal distance on the first frame of my stitched panorama.

This is Lullwater. Even the name is restful. It's part of my daily commute and one of the big reasons I start my commute by heading in the opposite direction of the office. It runs by a creek and on the other side of the creek and trees is a golf course. This shade tunnel stays cool even at the height of summer.

At night, the lack of streetlights gives you the impression you're far away from town. That's when I like to run along this road and listen to the creatures in the woods.

In this image, you should find the bridge crossing the creek. The small concrete bridge isn't as easy to pick out as the weight-limit sign at its foot. There is also an approaching cyclist. I didn't catch the other cyclist that was 50 yards behind.

For those that are movie buffs, this is just down the road from the house they filmed for "Driving Miss Daisy". There may have been some shots along this stretch in the movie.

Certainly the moments and impressions I treasure have changed over the years, but making my way along this road has always been a favorite.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.4
Number of Cyclists seen: 23
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH trail
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Wow! Sky goes all the way up and cool, crisp air. What a break from last week.

Panorama Surprise

I hadn't taken a panorama in a while and my timing brought me across the Jackson Street Bridge right as daylight was creeping over town. I thought I would try pulling in some low-light images that weren't too blurry although I had to leave the shutter open for a while.

At first I wasn't too pleased because the captured light was significanty darker than what my eyes were experiencing. Looking at the spliced result, I didn't think I would find much of interest until I noticed the panes of glass missing on the Westin Hotel. This building is the tall cylinder with a white circle of light at the top. The smaller cylinder on the right side of the larger cylinder is a glass elevator. The elevator shaft lost more panes than the hotel rooms did.



If you hadn't heard, a tornado came through downtown one week ago tonight. It disrupted the SEC tournament that was being held (out of view) on the other side of these buildings at the Georgia Dome. The fabric roof was torn during the storm. Although a lot of windows were blown out and some cars were damaged, no one was seriously hurt.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 22.2
Number of Cyclists seen: 8 (it is a holiday)
In-bound Route: 3rd Friday Commute via Decatur
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: We're getting the good stuff now

Early Daffodils

Daffodils are amongst the first flowers to come out of the ground and I'm always happy to see them, but it's rather sad they are opening earlier each year. This is taken today on my commute home from the office.



I have a picture of a daffodil from 1982 that was taken shortly after St. Patrick's Day (March 17th). That date is nearly 4 weeks earlier than it was 26 years ago.

On the same walk, I passed a stretch of the Beltline right-of-way. The brush has been cleared, but I'm not sure what is being prepared. This is looking south from Virginia Avenue. It's clear that there is room for a pedestrian trail alongside light rail along this stretch.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 5.0 (walking)
Weather: Raining all day long (fill that reservoir)

Long Ride - Fall Version

The Friday after Thanksgiving is always a good day for a long ride away from the malls. The Silver Comet Trail allowed me to put sufficient distance between myself and distracted drivers.


I wanted to explore a different route across I-285 to get to the Silver Comet. I chose a route that took me into a neighborhood that I knew was hilly. I just didn't imagine it would be granny-gear hilly for so many hills. There were several 100-200m stretches of >15% grade. Of course I got turned around and had to go up and down more than I bargained for. Particular painful were the stop signs at the bottom of the hill. I won't recommend this route.

Besides the hills, what I found striking about that neighborhood was no one was outdoors. I saw four people. All of them were getting in their car. How well could these people know their neighbors? It felt colder than the temperature.

I had wanted to ride at least 60 miles which would have taken me past Hiram. I would go out and see what kind of time I was making against the wind. I reached Dallas, GA after milepost 19, and realized I was only 3.5 miles from the Pumpkinvine Creek Trestle. This trestle was the highest point above the ground and would have an expansive view. I was ready for more miles.

I was surprised to find so much housing in view of the trestle. This was disappointing because the developer was the "trees must go" sort of developer. I guess we don't have to go far to find 3rd-world deforestation. The trestle was still nice.

At this point, I was within striking distance of the Brushy Mountain Tunnel at milepost 31 even though this would take my ride beyond 90 miles for the day. I had not seen the tunnel and I still felt good, so I rode on.

Beyond milepost 27 or so, the trail enters a State Wildlife Management area and the terrain becomes noticeably more contorted. The trail stays at an even grade while the land rises and falls above and below the trail. You'll be riding through a cut in the rock and then 2-3 hundred meters further you're looking down into a deep ravine. This was worth riding 80-90 miles to see. Not even a video would do this justice.




The Brushy Mountain Tunnel is bigger than I imagined. There is room for two lanes of traffic inside and tall vehicles that would have trouble with interstate overpasses would have no height problem in the tunnel.

The outbound headwind did not switch directions for my ride back in, and I had an easy time raising my average speed although I wasn't working as hard. As I came back into Smyrna, I found that I was able to clearly see Stone Mountain about 25-30 miles distant. Days that clear are getting fewer and fewer in Atlanta.

Slow, Steady Train

Despite the number of different people I see riding the Wednesday Bike Train route, I'm not sure we'll ever have even 10 people riding together. On the other hand, our Sunday Morning group ride often carried much fewer than 10 for several years. Now we typically get at least a dozen and a couple dozen on good days. The encouraging news is there has only been one day out of the last 7 weeks that no one joined me on the ride.

This morning I was accompanied by Amy, a Ga Tech student studying Civil Engineering. She has a full appreciation of communities whose amenities are within easy walking and cycling distance. It is an idea whose time has come.

I haven't posted a panorama in a while. I had made a few recent attempts, but this is the only one that I've been pleased with.



The bridge in the lower right-hand corner reminds me of the winter of 1982. I was a student at Tech at the time and we were in the middle of Snow Jam. A sudden afternoon snow storm caught many people downtown and everybody joined in a big party across the city. All the roads were blocked with stranded cars so lots of people were walking everywhere.

Several of my best memories occurred during those few snowed-in days, but the "sledding" day is near the top. We took sheets of linoleum down to Candler Park (pictured here) and slid down the 1/4 mile hill that ended at the bridge you see in the panorama. We tried over and over to steer a sheet of slippery flatness across that bridge without falling into the water. The hill is out of view to the right of the bridge.

Most of the steering involved picking the initial fall line because the best you could do with your feet or hands was keep your head facing the trees you wanted to avoid. About half-way down the slope was a ridge you would disappear over. On Graham's turn, we watched him disappear over the ridge and then turned our eyes to watch if he would cross the bridge. We didn't see exactly what happened, but what we could see gave us a pretty good idea. One of the dogwood trees whose top was all we could see, had the snow shaken loose. This observation fit well with our next observation: an empty piece of linoleum sliding across the bridge.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.8
Number of Cyclists seen: 37 - A very good number
In-bound Route: Wednesday Bike Train
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: 57 in AM, 70s in afternoon. Mostly sunny.

Pedestrian Pace

The towns along the BRAG route always welcome us with open arms, but some do a better job than others. Different folks have different likes and dislikes, so I'll speak only of my own preferences, preferences fortunately shared with those I was riding with.

Douglas was our favorite overnight spot for a long list of reasons, but near the top of that list was the lively and walkable downtown.



This image was taken at "Douglas Beach". A band, concessions and of course, a great big pile of sand, turned a small parking lot off of the "Main" street into a beach party. I should have taken more pictures.

The trees, isolation from traffic (just beyond the trees in this photo), and human-scaled and bench-laden streetscape made this an excellent place to gather outdoors to enjoy music, food, and each other's company. At intersections, the rounded curbs were turned into brick planters and pedestrians were funnelled to the crosswalks. This turned a dangerous interface between cars and people into a more friendly and safe environment for both. The greenery at the intersection was pleasing at any speed.

The walk to downtown was along a path reclaimed from an abandoned rail corridor. Here we walked behind the commercial buildings, isolated from motor vehicular traffic. The birds liked it there as well.

In contrast, some towns "center of activity" was car-oriented. Lots of drive-throughs, no sidewalks, parking lots turning visible light into infra-red heat, and no place to gather or even sit outdoors. We got fed, but it was entirely indoors. We were fortunate that in one of those towns, waiting for the shuttle was in a shady spot in front of a motel that did understand the value of providing benches for people to congregate. I'm sure it was not co-incidental that this town's center of activity was an interstate exit. These merchants made their dollar from motorists.

I had posted some time ago about whether or not streets are for people or cars. I hope we can find more ways for merchants to cater to pedestrians instead of motorists.

The post referenced above is also interesting for its comparison of pedestrian spaces and college campuses. I kept thinking about that as we strolled around South Georgia College in Douglas, and Georgia Southwestern College in Americus. Indeed there are worlds where you can get around most nicely without motor vehicles.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.9
Number of Cyclists seen: 17
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Not too hot for June

100% Natural

APPLING COUNTY, GA - BRAG offers many opportunities to experience the full force of nature. There's gravity, wind, and rain (also called uphill, headwind and soaked sleeping bag).

There's also the sun which can be experienced in a number of ways. It bakes our skin and raises rivulets of sweat. It dries out our riding clothes after laundering. And it produces some powerful images.


Ansley calls this one God Light. The rays of light splayed across our tent camp like a blessing.

This one I call "Take me to the River". All I have to do is look at this and I am breathing the moist air, absorbing the warmth of the sun's rays, and yearning to paddle amongst the cool shady spots.


Upon leaving Baxley, we soon crossed the Altamaha River. The main branch of the river had formed sand banks on the inside of the curves, but this lesser branch moved slow enough to appear like glass.

Scratching an Itch

I'd been itching for a long ride for several weeks now. I usually get in a 60+ mile ride once every 2-3 months, but had not ridden that far since January.

My nephew from Savannah was playing in a baseball tournament in Hampton, GA (home of the Atlanta Motor Speedway) which is about 35 miles south of Atlanta. I thought this would make a suitable long ride.

I had a route that followed our Quad County ride into Stockbridge. This got me better than half-way, but I wasn't familiar with the roads from there over to Hampton. I used bikely.com to plan out a route, but one of the roads I planned to take had been recently removed so a subdivision wouldn't have cut-through traffic. I didn't waste much time going down the road before it was clear this road was going no where, but the only route I knew wouldn't get me lost was following the main roads. Fortunately, even the main roads were not too busy, but my 70-75 mile ride turned into an 85-mile day. I scratched my itch real well.

On the way down, I passed through the town of Rex with its historic grist mill (grits was one of the things made there). I learned the mill was built in the 1820s and used off and on until at least the 1930s. In 2007, the sluice is nearly completely gone and the site is overgrown, but you can see what the site looked like 25 years ago and 40 years ago.

Clicking the images below will load the full size image; worth the download to "climb into the scene".

Great Streets

This post falls under the "help lights shine brighter" category.

On the blog Bike Year, I ran across an architect's view of streets. What caught my attention was the term "pedestrian nostalgia", loosely defined as that good feeling we remember about being able to walk everywhere. What kept my attention (besides the 47 comments) was getting into the head of someone who designs these spaces for a living.

The author describes a meeting held to discuss the importance of green spaces and how bureaucracies can be worked to make the green space a reality. It turned into a disappointing meeting, but several good points were brought out:

• Are streets for people or for cars?
  
• College campuses as the ultimate human-scaled living spaces.
  
• What makes a great street, and especially, how is community fostered?
  

The article takes a pedestrian's perspective, but the discussion is completely appropriate for cyclists as well. The comments move the discussion forward into other interesting nooks and crannies.

This is my photo offering for the day. This is the entrance to the Lullwater Conservation Park. It makes a good example of a space with human scale.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 15.0
Number of Cyclists seen: 13
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH
Out-bound Route: Highland Automotive to pick up the car
Weather: Sunny, dry, warm

I got a kick out of showing up at the automotive shop on a bike. The car needed some work and my wife was busy so I picked up the car on my way home. Reminds me of the days when I kept a bike in the back of the car in case the car broke down.

This morning before I left the house, I kept getting calls that kept me near the home computer. It was getting close to lunch time and I was considering just working from home, but I really wanted to get outside on my bike. I should probably post this separately: a guy who could have been working from home, but decided to go into the office because he enjoys his commute so much.

Building Communities Less Dependent on the Car

Much industrial land in Intown Atlanta is currently being converted to multi-unit residential. Although Atlantic Station has grabbed Atlanta's spotlight for being a converted steel mill property, there are several smaller tracts that are turning residential. The pictured construction is along the planned Beltline. You can see the vine-covered abandoned rail running from bottom center upward to the right which is planned to become an alternative transportation corridor.

I don't know if this property is billed as less car-intensive, but it's close to downtown, and close to the PATH Foundation's Freedom Park Trail (I'm standing on the trail to take these photos). Restaurants are a short stroll away and you're within a couple of miles of most things you would shop for.

Many residents of single-family housing fear the number of cars higher-density might bring, but our mass transit needs this density to work efficiently. We're moving over the hump with this new development.

I was also standing on the trail to take this photo alongside Candler Park Golf Course's 9th tee box.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.9
Number of Cyclists seen: 19
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Beautiful Morning, Warm and Hazy afternoon

Bike Parking -- at a High School Soccer Match

Summary

Round Trip Distance: 7.3
Number of Cyclists seen: 9
Route: Georgia Tech/Winn Park
Weather: Sunny, mild, breezy

There's a recent poll on Commute By Bike that asks where we park our bike. There were many categories, but nothing matched parking your bike in a stadium.

After work today, I swung by my daughter's high school (Grady High) to watch the girls play Region rival Druid Hills for seeding in the State Tournament. This match determined 3rd and 4th seeds. Grady won 2-0; same as their last meeting. My daughter left the game right before half with a badly sprained left wrist, but she'll be able to play in the tournament.

The panorama below is for Apertome. He has asked how I put together the panoramas. My Canon PowerShot S400 has a "stitch" mode that helps you align sequential shots. I then use the Canon stitching software to join them all together. Digital Magic. These images were taken as the teams were warming up so I had a better chance of getting the images to merge well.

Several years ago, there was a colorful character who lived Intown Atlanta named Panorama Ray. He had one of the old Kodak Cirkut cameras that took panoramas by exposing the film while it slowly revolved around the scene, using a slit for the aperature. He had taken many panoramas in and around our neighborhood. Although I won't be able to reproduce what he had done, I'd like to do what I can to keep his memory alive.

April 13th Commute

Summary

Round Trip Distance: 12.9 (nearly 13)
Number of Cyclists seen: 13 (I did see someone parking their bike, but that would have made it 14.)
Route: Piedmont Park

The Atlanta Dogwood Festival starts up today. These photos were taken from almost the same spot I stood when taking the panoramas three weeks ago.



At the intersection of Juniper and 5th, there were three bike commuters waiting for the light. We all remarked that this was our high-water mark for the number of bike commuters who came from different directions and had different destinations. Each of us agreed we were seeing more commuters this year. Good Feeling all around.

Excessively nice mornings

This morning is so frickin' gorgeous, I, I ... I'm afraid I'm just gonna have to sing.



I'm trying to make everyone jealous who doesn't get to ride their bike on mornings like this. Photos stitched from multiple images taken this morning on my way in. I was lucky to catch a fellow commuter at the right side of the image above.

Looking at these images makes me want to go right back out there again. Maybe tomorrow.