12.28.2009

update

Nothing posted over the past week, the first of two weeks taken at home. I'll be back in the new year. See you then, maybe sooner.

28"
28"

12.16.2009

no rain

A break in the rain allowed emily and i to enjoy a pleasant loop around redwood/pinehurst, photography too.

gingko
Gingko trees are bright yellow now. I'm using a belarussian peleng 8mm fisheye here. It's a fully manual lens, which will prove useful as it draws no extra power to itself (making it appropriate for all-night astrophotography without the weight of power supplies). I'm using an aperture plugin, fisheye hemi, to render rectilinear correction to the 180 degree fisheye projection.

baby tree grove
A small stand of young trees. (original projection)

pinehurst
Emily negotiating an S curve along pinehurst.

sunset from atop tunnel
Above tunnel road. My favorite lens, the 50mm prime, is used here.

looking out, halfway down tunnel
Heading down, above 24.

12.07.2009

snow on mt. diablo

Taking advantage of one of the most extensive snowfalls in recent bay area history, I pedaled the faithful Atlantis up Mt. Diablo.

false peak
A false peak on the way up, the snow line seemed around 1200 feet.

ridge, clouds
lots of cloud cover throughout the day

storm rolling in
looking off the mountain, I'm about to push up through the storm cell you see on the right...

storm in
in the clouds

pushing up through the storm
though i'm reticent to discuss such things on here, climbing a mountain in a snowstorm lends a certain perspective on the quality of a ride.

looking out near the junction
the storm cell moved on and the snow calmed down.

atlantis, snow, firetrail
I bypassed the road closed sign by using a firetrail above the ranger station.

below juniper
It was worth it.

climbing
Approaching Sunset.

long shadows, atlantis

sunset wide
Sunset

sunset close
20 minutes later.

Riding in snow is quite fun, and I'm glad I had the chance to do it regularly once upon a time. Here, it's nice to be able to descend out of the bitter cold at the end of the ride, though the descent takes much longer when one has to dodge ice.

12.02.2009

marin minitour (3 / 3)

After a night of sleep, we woke up with Mt. Tam standing between us and a breakfast of vegetable omelettes and pancakes. The affair of the morning was 2000 feet of climbing over some pristine views along Bolinas-Fairfax and Ridgecrest. We got fairly hungry by the end of it.

Dawn on Spanish Moss Above Tent
Spanish moss above our tent in the morning light.

Resting in the Morning
From our site, overlooking Stinson Beach.

Riding out from Campsite
Emily riding out.

Ridgecrest near Bolinas Ridge
One of the many microclimates along the way, this is just beyond the intersection of Bolinas-Fairfax, Bolinas Ridge, and Ridgecrest.

Climbing Ridgecrest
Climbing.

Winding Roads
A world class ride.

Atlantis on Ridgecrest
The view to the horizon pays off any doubts from the climb.

Ridgecrest in the Morning
More of ridgecrest.

Looking South from Above Pan Toll Road
Looking south out to the penninsula from the top of Pan Toll Road.

SF
SF and the foothills we descended through to reach the Golden Gate (it's peeking out) and eventually the BART.

The beauty and accommodation along so many of the cycling routes coupled with moderate/nonexistent traffic made for an incredibly relaxing tour. We'll be back.

12.01.2009

marin minitour (2.5 / 3)

Looking South from Arch Rock
We reached arch rock and took in the splendor of the pacific.

Looking Down from Arch Rock
Looking down.

Rock, Ocean, Birds
Peering out.

Bird, Rock, Plants, Ocean.
Bird. Rock. Plant. Ocean.

arch rock
Taken from below, looking through the namesake arch where the previous shots were taken.

Behind Arch Rock
Here, you can see how the erosion of this small stream opened a small hole in the rock that was subsequently morphed by the powerful ocean waters into the large arch found today.

Muddy Saluki
Emily's Saluki was wet and filthy.

Sunset Above Stinson
Sunset, while climbing up Fairfax-Bolinas.

Sunset above Stinson
We watched it pass as we ate an early dinner in preparation for the climb.

Night on Tam
Taken while cooking the main course later that night, at our stealthy campsite.

Stars on Tam
If you look to the bottom and middle thirds of this image, you'll make out a small meteor-looking flash. Close up, it is symmetrical, which betrays its being a satellite flare. I didn't see this until I reviewed the photo. It was totally unexpected. We also didn't expect to see the eclipse of the moon by an overhead plane (unfortunately, I was not quick enough to the camera to catch that remarkable sight).

Emily by Night
Emily cooking (and holding still).

Stars from Mt. Tam
The view just outside the tent.

Rivendell Atlantis by Night
The near-full moon was bright.

Nemo Losi Tent, Red Lamp, White Moon, Stars, Trees
The view inside the tent. Red lamp for reading refracting across the inside of tent mesh, white moonlight refracting across the outside, cosmos outside.