The circus bike

I just scored this nice vintage folding bike. It's a Supercycle Twenty, made by Raleigh in Britain around 1972 (I think).

I wanted a folding bike to extend my hiking-by-train options. I can easily throw this in the car, on the train or bus, and get going. I looked into more modern folding bikes, but they seemed too pricey. I also just have a thing for old stuff.

I got this one for $120 off local Craigslist. The photo shows the bike after removing the chrome fenders and some other bits to lighten it up a bit. It came with a rear pannier rack, which I'll put back on. It weighs about 32 pounds as shown - kinda heavy for a folder, but it's an OK compromise for me. I'll lighten it up some more with aluminum bars, new seat post and saddle, etc.

They are called the Twenty because they have 20" diameter wheels, which are larger than most folders and actually the same as most BMX bikes. A lot of people swap on lighter aluminum BMX wheels, a cheap mod that I might do.

My wife jokingly called this a "circus bike," because it looks like something the cyclops would ride around the big top to get laughs and jeers from the crowd. I laughed along with her, since I never really thought I would own one of those goofy folding bikes, let alone actually ride one.

But this one feels different, and I think it will prove very versatile. For one thing, it's vintage. For another, it has larger wheels, so I don't feel like a complete circus freak. And I think you'll see that as I modify and modernize it a bit, it will actually turn out pretty cool.

These are considered a very solid folder and Raleigh made a lot of them. So if you want a folder, you might look for one of these.

More info:
http://raleightwenty.webs.com/
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh-twenty.html

Why blog: Trains & hiking

I've been a hiker and backpacker for more than 30 years. That's a lot of trips. Every one of those trips began by getting into a car. Lately that is changing.

I've started looking for hikes accessible by train. Here are some reasons:

• The experience. The train follows a different route than the highways, and you see a lot more than pavement and other cars as a result. You can't stop whenever you want to rest or explore a detour. Yet the entire trip is restful, because you don't have to think about the traffic. And the entire trip is a sort of a detour, because the views are much better
• Self-sufficiency. While a car, on the surface, may seem the more self-sufficient path, in reality it becomes a crutch. You can always throw more equipment in the car just in case you might might need it on the trip. But traveling by train, you really have to rely only on what's in your pack, and on your skills and knowledge to adapt to conditions beyond that.
• It's greener. Short of walking or biking to the trailhead, the train is the greenest way to get there in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. 

There's no question preparing for these kinds of trips is more difficult. You are limited to train schedules and routes. That's a downside. But I've discovered an upside: The experience of stepping off the train with just a pack on your back, and quietly slipping into the woods just a few minutes later, is priceless.

I'll be sharing some of these trips in the weeks ahead so you can try it yourself. Maybe I'll even publish a guidebook eventually. For now, here's a teaser photo from one of these recent treks (details to come).

Why blog: History & hiking

I'm curious about how the landscape and habitats have changed. Looking back at history is a way to reveal this. We can't really experience anymore how most places in the mountains or the woods or the plains existed in their natural state, because urbanization with all its tentacles has altered them so much.

With a little research, I hope to share how some of these places looked, felt and functioned before we came along. It's another way of observing. And it's important to put into perspective our efforts to restore these places today.

This photo was taken from a hilltop in Contra Loma Regional Park in Antioch. I spent a lot of time hiking in this park to burn off stress when I worked for the Antioch Ledger-Dispatch, a newspaper that later succumbed to corporate takeover, the internet, and a bad economy.

It was from this area - maybe even this very hilltop - where Padre Juan Crespi in 1772 became the first European to lay eyes on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, an estuary that was teeming with salmon, elk, pronghorn, wolves and grizzly bears. Today, all but the salmon are gone, and they are in trouble. Yet the Delta is a bountiful farming and boating region, California's most important water source, and still an important fishery.

 
When Crespi trekked through here with a party of Spanish soldiers, this was open grassland and small creeks lined with trees, shrubs, cattails. From his vantage point, Crespi was able to see large rivers converging in the distance, islands and the distant snow-capped Sierra Nevada.

Today the city of Antioch sprawls up around this hill, as you can see, with a golf course, man-made lakes, tract homes and strip malls. On the horizon, across the Sacramento River, you can make out thousands of wind turbines pumping out energy for a hungry economy.

Yet it was amazing to find, just out of the foreground of this picture, a large active burrow, probably home to a fox that can trace its ancestors back to Crespi's visit.


I'll have a lot more to say about Crespi's trip, so stay tuned.

Why blog: Powers of observation

I don't want to add to the noise. I don't want to waste anybody's time. I want to contribute something useful and interesting. So I'll spell out some reasons why I'm blogging.

Powers of observation 

As a journalist, I consider this my most important skill. If you can't see the story (either visually or logically), you can't get it into print. The same goes for everyday life. If you don't pay attention to your surroundings, you will miss opportunities or get into trouble.

I'll kick around some ways to be a better observer of the world. I will apply this discussion primarily to enjoying the outdoors, whether in the wild or in the city.

Trains, hiking, and linking

Started a page of useful Rail & Trail web links. This will evolve and change as things progress.

Train to trail

I'm starting a series on hiking trips reached by train rather than car. I've been a longtime hiker and backpacker, but as the world gets more crowded and polluted, I'm less inclined to want to drive to the trailhead. Still, getting outdoors, out of the city and away from the crowds are important to my sanity. I also enjoy traveling by train and rarely get to do it much. So, we have a convergence.

For me, enjoying the outdoors is about getting away from civilization, and when I begin such a trip by car, I feel a disconnect. The traffic is dispiriting and stressful. Parking at the trailhead is often fraught with anxiety and tension. There is also an inherent conflict in relying on an automobile to get outdoors, which should be about being more independent and self-sufficient, not less.

There are also the climate change implications, of course. Train travel is one of the lowest-impact means of travel where greenhouse gases are concerned. Seems to me if you enjoy the outdoors and want to continue doing so, reducing your carbon footprint on the way there is something important to consider.

One big limitation, obviously, is that are fewer trailheads reachable by train. But it may be a restriction worth accepting. And maybe, in the long run, it will be remedied with more train routes and better schedules as more people try this mode of travel.

I plan to document these trips on the blog. My goal is to eventually offer a "train-to-trail" guidebook. I think there will be value in this, as I am find out that getting to good hikes by train isn't always easy.

As a teaser, here's a photo from my first trip, which ended up being a fascinating kickoff and a great introduction to the issues and contradictions embodied in the concept.

The Shell Oil refinery in Martinez, Calif., shot from the window of the Amtrak Capitol Corridor train just before touching down for the first hike:

It's probably not the sort of photo you were expecting. But it does offer food for thought.