My plan is to ride my bike 3 times per week. Two short after work rides during the week and a longer ride on the weekend. I did the two shorter rides this past week and a 20 mile ride today. I had originally planned to ride yesterday but it was too cold and threatening. After church today, I headed out to ride to the Lone Tree area in search of a bunch of geocaches. I found a few and missed a few and skipped a few others. I noticed how dark it was getting back towards home. The temperature had dropped from about 57 to about 48 degrees by the time I got home. As I turned onto Wildcat at its exteme east end, it started to rain and it rained all the way back home. That's about 5 miles. Needless to say, I was thoroughly soaked. It was interesting riding 33 miles per hour in the rain - a new experience for me.
My immediate goal is to get my bike mileage to 6000 miles. Right now, that is only another 25 miles. I plan on completing that in the next week. My goal for the year is to ride at least 1000 miles - 814 to go. I also have a goal to do a 50 mile ride sometime this year. I am also planning to ride at least 2 stretches of the Colorado Trail and the Indian Creek Loop. These are definitely mountain bike trails.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Up Close
It is common to see these guys in Waterton Canyon. They pretty much ignore people which is not necessarily a good thing. This ram was just off the road and I was able to get this closeup. He appears to be watching me. The horns are quite worn and show some scars of the battle to see who would be the big cheese in the herd. Click on the picture for a larger view.
Friday, March 13, 2009
First time on youtube
I posted a video on YouTube. It is a special train heading from Denver to Pueblo for the State Fair a few years ago. It is steam-powered
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Climbing
When I was a kid, it was not unusual to find me up in a tree. My friend Kevin and I were climbers for sure. There was one tree in the neighbor's yard that was especally good for climbing. We'd get 30-40 feet up easily. I don't climb trees that often anymore. Well, in fact, I did climb one today to retrieve a geocache.
Here is a picture of me on top of a rock that I had to climb. It's from a few years ago and is in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Here is a picture of me on top of a rock that I had to climb. It's from a few years ago and is in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
One of my hidden geocaches
One of my hidden geocaches requires a climb up this hill. It's a bit hairy but doable. That's me up there. This is definitely the hardest one of mine to get to. So far, only 3 cachers have found it and it has been there since November 23, 2008.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Thursday, March 05, 2009
The Train Crew (as I understand it)
At one time, it took 5 people to operate a typical train. In the locomotive, there was an engineer, a fireman, and a brakeman. In the caboose there was another brakeman and a conductor. In the steam days, the fireman's job was quite important as he was the guy who kept the fire going. The engineer operated the locomotive and the horns and no doubt lots of other gizmos. The head end brakeman obviously handled the brakes from the locomotive while the rear end brakeman handled the brakes from the caboose. The conductor in the caboose had all the paperwork for the train and was actually the person in charge of the train.
When diesels arrived, the fireman became a dunsel but was nevertheless kept in place for a long time due to union agreements. The same became true of both brakemen since the engineer could do all the braking for the train.
Eventually, the crew dwindled down to just the engineer and the conductor. It makes sense to have 2 people in the locomotive to support each other so the need for a caboose went away except for trains that had to run backwards for lots of switching moves. That's is the only type of train that still has a caboose today. The replacement for the caboose on regular trains is a "fred" - a flashing rear end device. It is a box of electronics that can monitor the systems on the train. This is one of the reasons for lots of antennas on today's locomotives.
P.S. I don't get to use the word "dunsel" very often.
When diesels arrived, the fireman became a dunsel but was nevertheless kept in place for a long time due to union agreements. The same became true of both brakemen since the engineer could do all the braking for the train.
Eventually, the crew dwindled down to just the engineer and the conductor. It makes sense to have 2 people in the locomotive to support each other so the need for a caboose went away except for trains that had to run backwards for lots of switching moves. That's is the only type of train that still has a caboose today. The replacement for the caboose on regular trains is a "fred" - a flashing rear end device. It is a box of electronics that can monitor the systems on the train. This is one of the reasons for lots of antennas on today's locomotives.
P.S. I don't get to use the word "dunsel" very often.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Cabooses were not all the same
The three below all have extended vision cupolas meaning the cuploas are wider than the body of the caboose. Two of them are very similar (BN and Rio Grande) but there are noticable differences. These two also have their windows plated over while the MP caboose does not.
Here is one from the Burlington Northern in Fort Worth, Texas in 1984.
Here is one from the Rio Grande in the same location as the BN caboose maybe on the same day.
Here is one from the Missouri Pacific in a different location in Fort Worth also in 1984.
Here is one from the Burlington Northern in Fort Worth, Texas in 1984.
Here is one from the Rio Grande in the same location as the BN caboose maybe on the same day.
Here is one from the Missouri Pacific in a different location in Fort Worth also in 1984.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Top 100
Last time I looked at the statistics, I had actually made it into the list of top 100 cachers in Colorado. I am #100 in Colorado and in a 6 way ties for #6397 in the world. What a hoot.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Series Caches
There seems to be a plethora of cache series these days. Here are my stats for some of the more significant series as of today:
The Plain Fun series are all hidden out on the plains near DIA. There are 30 so far and I have found these:: 21, 22, 23
The Silo View series consists of 47 caches so far out on the plains east of Denver. I have found these: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47
The Barn View series consists of 17 caches so far out on the plains east of Denver. I have found these: 2, 3, 4, 10, 14, 15, 17
The National Park series are all named after national parks and are out on the plains east and north of DIA. There are 57 of these and I have found 41 of them.
The Hansel's Crumb series consits of 20 caches on the plains east of Denver. I have found these: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20
The Gretel's Crumb series consits of 9 caches on the plains east of Denver. I have found these: 7, 8
The Caching Stimulous Plan series consits of 10 caches on the plains east of Denver and Aurora. I have found these: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
The Colorado Spirit Quest series are hidden in or near cemeteries throughout Colorado by many cachers. There are over 150 of them. I have found these: 1, 2, 7, 8, 11, 17, 44, 47, 60, 68, 69, 79, 87, 140, 144
The On Every Corner series are all hidden by Walgreen's stores. There are 57 so far and I have found these: 15, 16, 18, 25, 26, 28, 29, 34, 35, 36, 43, 44, 50, 51, 54
Like the On Every Corner series, the Project Wal series are hidden by Walgreen's stores but by a different cacher. Of the 16 that exist, I have found these: 1, 12, 13, 14
The Douglas County Historical series are virtual caches where you have to go to some historical location and report a specific fact from it. There are 20 of them. I have found these: 2, 3, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
The Plain Fun series are all hidden out on the plains near DIA. There are 30 so far and I have found these:: 21, 22, 23
The Silo View series consists of 47 caches so far out on the plains east of Denver. I have found these: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47
The Barn View series consists of 17 caches so far out on the plains east of Denver. I have found these: 2, 3, 4, 10, 14, 15, 17
The National Park series are all named after national parks and are out on the plains east and north of DIA. There are 57 of these and I have found 41 of them.
The Hansel's Crumb series consits of 20 caches on the plains east of Denver. I have found these: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20
The Gretel's Crumb series consits of 9 caches on the plains east of Denver. I have found these: 7, 8
The Caching Stimulous Plan series consits of 10 caches on the plains east of Denver and Aurora. I have found these: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
The Colorado Spirit Quest series are hidden in or near cemeteries throughout Colorado by many cachers. There are over 150 of them. I have found these: 1, 2, 7, 8, 11, 17, 44, 47, 60, 68, 69, 79, 87, 140, 144
The On Every Corner series are all hidden by Walgreen's stores. There are 57 so far and I have found these: 15, 16, 18, 25, 26, 28, 29, 34, 35, 36, 43, 44, 50, 51, 54
Like the On Every Corner series, the Project Wal series are hidden by Walgreen's stores but by a different cacher. Of the 16 that exist, I have found these: 1, 12, 13, 14
The Douglas County Historical series are virtual caches where you have to go to some historical location and report a specific fact from it. There are 20 of them. I have found these: 2, 3, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)