Wow! What a long strange trip it’s been, as they say.

And speaking of 10 year anniversaries, I recently noticed a large number of meaningful life events that seem to happen on the 5 year boundaries of my life. Now this isn’t scientific or meaningful, but it is kind of fun. Also, I looked back the past few years, and did the “what happened 5/10/15, etc years back” and there just didn’t seem to be as many big events compared to this year and its 5 year intervals.

So without further ado, the big events in my life, in 5 year intervals:

1957 Sheryl was born.

1962 I moved to Kirksville, Missouri after living for almost 3 years in Spain due to my dad’s Air Force deployment. I attended kindergarten in Spain.

1972 The Grateful Dead performed what was arguably their best tour during April and May, playing throughout Europe. Later in the year they released a 3 record album named Europe ’72.

1972 I ran away from home; it was my first visit to Albuquerque and in retrospect my first road trip.

1977 I hitchhiked to California and then up to Gold Beach, Oregon. I spent some very high quality time with my cousins and aunt and uncle while in California. The ride up the coast was the determining factor in my decision to move to California the following year. I had simply never seen anything quite like the Marin/Sonoma/Mendocino coast before and wanted to be closer!

1977 Sheryl and I were separated for a few months beginning in late 1977. (In fairness, it was my fault/choice.) We seemed to have survived the incident having now been happily married for over 38 years.

1982 Sheryl fell from a ladder (it was old and collapsed) and totally wrecked her knee (the miniscus was torn as well as two different ligaments.)

1982 Attended our first concert at the lovely and beautiful Frost Amphitheater. Due to Sheryl’s recovering knee she was able to gain early access and we had great seats!

1987 We got Kona,

1987 We bought our Toyota Tercel.

1987 As part of an extended tour of Grateful Dead concerts we attended the Harmonic Convergence (I call it the harmonica convention) in Colorado. Met a fellow “nethead” from DEC at the festivities.

1987 Lisa became a teenager.

1987 My very good friend Milton died unexpectedly.

1992 Lisa HS graduation 20 yrs

1997 Moneka was born.

2002 This blog, All the Pages Are My Days was established.

2002 Both of our moms died.

2002 We bought our Toyota Highlander.

2007 Moneka’s 1st (and only so far) trip to Hawaii.

There are a few more photos from this set on Flickr.

Wild Kansas rose.
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The yuccas are blooming much earlier this year.
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I just love these roads!
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Close-up of yucca flower.
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Standing on the moon.
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My bike, a wheat field, and Coronado Heights in the background.
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I love the color of the sky above the wheat field in this one.
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Sunset at the gate at the base of Coronado Heights.
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In fact, the road is so infrequently traveled that there were two places that were so rough (muddy with deep ruts) that I barely made it through on the bike and would have turned my car around! No photos there; I was too busy staying upright on the extremely narrow path.

I did take a few photos during the ride. The first was taken as I took shelter from a brief shower and the rest are from various places along the ride (Kansas does have some hills; I climbed almost 500 feet yesterday!), concluding with a map of the ride.

You can view the route I took on Google maps using this link, and view larger versions of the photos on Flickr.

Bay Trail

This is my main riding location, and I frequently visit here to take photos as well.

Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)

The extremely low tide, coupled with the late hour, resulted in some very nice textures and patterns. Note the twin peaks of Shoreline Amphitheater on the far right.

The headless rider!

Coyote Valley Trail

Years ago, Sheryl and I rode this trail. I did go a little further than in the past, hitting 20 miles one day!

Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)

Late winter Early spring in the Coyote Valley.

This is about 6 miles into the ride.

This is about 10 miles down the trail. Nice relaxing spot for a break.

Sawyer Camp Trail

Very nice trail. Sometimes riding through woods, other times riding along side the lake. Ends with a bit of a climb to the top of a small dam.

Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)

Only stopped for photos once during this ride; it was worth it!

Lexington Dam

Though my guide book calls this one of the “easiest” rides I knew from experience that Lexington Dam is higher than Vasona Lake. And so it is, but the ride wasn’t really that rough, and it sure was fun coming back down (though there was that 90 seconds of terror on that one stretch!)

Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)

That could have been me, as I also had to walk up the back side of Lexington Dam. Fun ride back down! (The scary part came later.)

Canada Road

One of the most bike-friendly roads in the area. On Sundays 4 miles of the road are closed to motor vehicles; very nice!

Map of the ride. Click the image above to view an interactive map showing the details of my ride. (Link will open in new window/tab.)

Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir

This bike lane is as wide as the vehicle lane! (Though it does eventually narrow, it’s still very nice this entire 8 mile stretch of road.)

Pulgas Water Temple

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And that’s my cycling update as of March 12th. I was shut out due to high winds today and it’s supposed to rain all week, perhaps into the weekend, so I’m glad I was able to ride so much early in the month.

is bound for glory, this train.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour (Healthy option: use 1/2 C wheat flour)
3/4 cup sugar (Option: use 1/4 C brown sugar)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
nutmeg to taste
pinch of cloves
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup finely chopped apples (1 large)

Preparation

Heat oven to 375°F.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in medium bowl. Add all remaining ingredients. Stir just until flour is moistened. Spoon batter into muffin liners.

Bake 18-23 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before removing from baking pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

For this batch I used a pan that makes mini-bundt loaves.

In a word, wow!

I didn’t realize how much action could be packed into such a relatively small amount of space. I haven’t ridden the entire trail yet, but I can say that in just 3 short miles you will find steep downhill sections, grassy single-track, tough switchbacks, and more! It’s truly a blast to ride this trail; it also provides quite a healthy, sweat-inducing, and heart racing workout.

Here are a few photos taken along the way:

70 years together, only hours apart

It brought to mind the soulful Pigpen tune, Two Souls in Communion. I’ve always liked the song, but listening to the various versions from the Europe ’72 tour has given me a renewed appreciation of its meaning.

Here’s a link to a version (audio only) from May 1972, at the Lyceum Theater in London, followed by a link to the lyrics:

Two Souls in Communion (video)

Two Souls in Communion (lyrics)

What are they seeing, when they look in each other’s eyes?
What are they feeling, when they see each other smile?
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What is the secret of this tie that binds?
Two souls in communion, both body and mind.

I’m indescribably happy, lucky and satisfied to be married to and to have such a relationship with Sheryl.

* 38 years in April

It was a blast.

It also kicked my ass. I worked harder in 90 minutes to go a bare 4 miles than I have  in the past going 15-20 miles in the same amount of time. Here’s a link to the GPS track of my ride; you can click the play button to see the ride animated.

Now, prior to today, I had ridden my (birthday/Christmas present) Trek Cobia mt. bike about 50 miles on local gravel roads. I had not, on any bike at all, ever ridden the type of trail I rode today.

I loved it.

This wasn’t a casual, steady peddling, crank out the miles ride. No, this was seemingly straight down runs, over rocky, bumpy single track, followed by sharp turns and then straight up climbs. Well, straight up to my inexperienced legs.

Another big difference is that a ride like this is quite unlike a casual, traffic-free ride on empty country roads that are flat and go straight. Those roads are so mellow I even use my headphones sometimes (and my mirror!) I get a lot of thinking done on the Freemount and Bridgeport loops.

Riding a trail like this commands one’s full attention at all times. I slipped once, early in the ride and had a couple of close calls, but avoided the ground after the first time. Tricky is a word that comes to mind to describe riding these trails.

Oh, and then there was the thrill of riding a barely wide enough to fit track right along side the lake. Water on one side and an unyielding rock on the other. I did dismount and walk through part of this section (I did the same on a few steep hills earlier in the ride).

All in all, I can’t wait for the next ride like this!

Following are a few photos from the ride. The quality is not up to usual standards as most of these are screen shots from a video (helmet cam!) I shot during the ride.

My trusty ride, waiting patiently for the ride to start.
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I’m leading the rear, which turned out to be appropriate as I ended up being lapped by most of the other riders. The fastest rider? 8 miles in 45 minutes. Me? 4 miles in 90 mins. Yeah, my first ride.
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Turns out the downhills on mountain bike trails are much (much!) steeper than the down hills one finds on country gravel roads. Plus, on those roads you can get going fast and keep going for a while. On the trail, it’s time to turn just when you’re getting up to speed!
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Beautiful ride today, just wonderful.
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This part was awesome! It was thrilling to be riding on a single track right at the water’s edge.
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