60.5 in the rain

Normally, I don't bike in the rain.

This is not to say I leap off the bike and hide in the trees should rain start while I am out - in fact, I have ridden my cyclocross bike down a MUP in water so deep that the front wheel was setting up a pretty serious bow wave and have scared myself silly in a massive thunderstorm with hail that I got caught in while mtn biking - but I do not like leaving the house all warm and dry while it is raining out. Snow does not bother me, the more the better in fact, but the rain?

It seems somehow wrong.

Today was different.

Today, I went out and wandered about the city to the tune of 60.5km in the rain. It rained the whole time. At times, it was raining fairly heavily, and at times it was more of a gentle mist.

It was wonderful.

I did the same thing yesterday as well.

While out, I took some pictures.

This was the only storm damage I could find on my usual rounds on the bike. And I was looking. A massive willow tree lost about 1/5th of its trunk. Power was still out in some parts of the city yesterday, but mostly, things here were back to normal. We are quite far inland and did not get hit that hard.

We did get some seriously cool looking skies though as the tail end of the hurricane blew over. I wish I had had the time to spend just sitting and photographing the sky. It was amazing.

Water levels at Columbia Lake were very high. This is in part due to the storm, but mostly is due to the fact that it has been raining for almost three weeks now with only a few days off. Columbia Lake is not a real lake - it is part of the water management system created by the Grand River Conservation Authority and helps regulate the level of Laurel Creek which feeds into the river. Normally, the culvert these ducks are sitting on is about 3/4 to 4/5 exposed.

My usual path to my usual bird watching spot was under water. Again, while this has happened in the past, it usually does not happen in the autumn. Usually, it is like this after the spring melt.

If you know the lake, and most of you reading this won't, you know that this spot here is the spot where the creek feeds the lake. Normally, it is possible to easily wade across to the exposed clay bar picture left. Not right now though.  The creek is about four times as wide as normal, and at least two feet deeper with more current.

One big benefit of all the rain though has to be the beauty of the City's wood lots. This one is about 2km from our house, and is a very pretty spot. It makes a good shortcut on the way home depending on where I am coming from. Today, I found an excuse to go through it and pause to look around.

I am glad I did.

sandy amongst us

Today Hurricane Sandy made landfall on the Eastern Seaboard of North America. I won't go into a lot of what makes this hurricane significant from a meteorological point of view, but will instead let my thoughts and prayers extend to those who have been and continue to be affected by this storm.

Here, far inland like we are, not much is going on (yet). The satellite image (GOES Eastern Canada) looks like this around 10pm.

It has not really reached us yet.

Around town, we have been very fortunate so far, to my knowledge at this time. Power was knocked out for some of the city, but crews were able to restore power fairly quickly. Leaves are everywhere, and some light weight branches have been knocked down - that is all I observed while I was out at a meeting tonight. Winds are gusting to 67kmph at the local airport, but are expected to reach 90kmph (higher in exposed areas).

Otherwise, it seems business as usual.

We shall see what the morning brings.

baby therapy

I got some much needed baby therapy today. They are wonderful to hold :)

Mommy is an old friend of mine that I have known since she was four years old. She is a marvelous person:) She and her sweetie have two miracle babies - twins born early - that are doing very very well right now. I got to hold this one for about 40 minutes this morning. It has been a long time since my own little one - now approaching 11 - was this size.

I really am quite a sap.

(The pictures are a bit squishy and soft due to no flash and lousy light - they got pushed a bit more than I usually push files from the Fuji X10.)

hacky hallowe'en

Today was Hacky Hallowe'en, an event brought to the community at large by kwartzlab, a delightful group of making strange things for the sheer fun of it types in the KW area. They have a space for doing stuff - games, work, hobbies, etc and people interested can join for a nominal fee per month and use the space.

Since today was a lousy day weather wise...

And we know some of the people involved with kwartzlab...

We decided to go to Hacky Hallowe'en. The idea is to carve a fancy pumpkin, and use an LED as the light source for it. The LED and the circuits needed to make it go and power it are put together by the person carving the pumpkin themselves, with assistance offered by kwartzlab people as needed. We have done this before, and the kid has enjoyed herself very much.

It is held each year - this is the second year I believe - in the atrium of The Museum located in downtown Kitchener.

Everyone has a wonderful time carving pumpkins - templates are there for those wishing to make something fancy - and putting together their LED packs. A photo station is set up so that people can pose with their pumpkins should they desire.

Some come in costume...

While others do not.

Next year, if you are in the area, take the time to come down and make a really cool pumpkin.

bicycle ambassador

Waterloo Region is getting some things very right regarding my favourite way of getting around the place.

This makes me happy.

For one thing, increasingly, there is a recognition that the bicycle is a valid transportation option. We are slowly getting more MUPs built which actually go someplace vs purely for recreation MUPs in suburbia which seem to just go in circles within one large suburban block.

A new(ish) MUP style, for here anyways, is in place on Fischer-Hallman Road which formally divides pedestrian and cycling traffic and attempts to ease some congestion. The idea is to make things safer for all trail users and see if people want or will use MUPs which link together existing trail infrastructure. This idea is not new, and has been in place in other parts of the world for decades. But it is very nice to see it happening here at last.

Also, the Region, in conjunction with its planners and The Working Center, have hired some bicycle ambassadors to hang out in places that bicycle riders are and, well, be friendly to people.

Here is one, perched atop one of Kitchener's trail blocking gates along the Iron Horse Trail. (I am not a fan of these stupid things - they are dangerous, and have contributed to injuries in the past and one person's death.)

Anyways, I digress, like normal.

These ambassadors meet and greet people and are there to promote cycling safety by educating bicycle riders on how to ride in a safer, legal, and more friendly manner. Motorists are also being given an education under this program.

Personally, I love it. My friends and I have been trying for a while now to figure out how come the cycling community, such as it is, seems to be on the receiving end of harassment on the road ways of this region. The idea is that if we could understand what motivates some people to act in a psychotic manner, that we might be able to come up with actual workable solutions to a real problem on our roads instead of just becoming upset. We made the following observations:

• People in the last few years seem generally angry - cue higher cost of living, cost of gas, poor economy, job losses, etc
• People, when angry, act out in ways which they would not otherwise - people are generally good I think, right? When given half a chance?
• There are elements in our society who think, erroneously, that gasoline tax pays for roads - property tax does, as well as transfers from higher levels of government - this is an often expressed comment that I have heard more than once from more than one source and is a source of contention for some people.
• These same people think, again erroneously, that cyclists are freeloaders who do not pay for the roads (read comments in the local paper whenever an article about bikes is written to see what I mean) and therefore have no business being on them. The law says otherwise, and historically, the roads as we know them today in North America were the result of lobbying by cyclists who, numbering in the tens of thousands, wanted better surfaces to ride on than were needed by buggies...
• Traffic is heavy and congested and is getting worse. I cannot believe how long it takes to get around this city now in my car compared to how long it takes on my bikes.
• Cyclists are not affected by traffic much because of the size of our vehicles and dedicated lanes - add to that we often don't have to stop (it is far easier to time it with traffic lights on a bike than in a car because traffic pressures are different)...
• Many cyclists are total scofflaws who run red lights, stop signs, ride on the sidewalks, go the wrong way on the road, have not figured out what a light is, and generally are a pain in the ass which causes the already frustrated motorist to say "See?!?" and respond negatively towards people on bikes. 
• The flip side of this is that many cyclists see the atrocious behaviour of some members of the motoring public towards cyclists and say "See?!?" right back at them and respond negatively as well - dumb dumb dumb all around.
• Regarding the sidewalks though, consider this: Why do cyclists use the sidewalk? Many are just plain scared to ride on the road because of the behaviour of motorists. They say that they would rather take the car than put themselves at that kind of risk. They say they want to ride, but are to afraid to and this pushes them onto the sidewalk where they are actually more at risk and can harm others. Personally, I think the risk of riding in traffic is overstated, but people make decisions based on their perceptions of facts, not on the facts themselves (you are more likely to die falling down the stairs in your house than riding your bike for example, yet people keep going into those basements!!!) Edit to add: This does not excuse the riding on the sidewalk, but does explain it. Speaking for myself, when I feel forced onto the sidewalk - something which happens rarely - I get off the bike and walk.
• Also, many people in North America see bicycles as toys or sporting equipment only and do not understand that in most, if not all, jurisdictions in North America bicycles are considered a vehicle and must follow the same rules as other vehicle traffic when using public roadways. People on bikes need to realize this and behave accordingly and respect other traffic. People in cars need to realize this and recognise that bikes have a right to be on the road and must treat cyclists as if they were any other slower moving piece of traffic when passing, etc. Co-operation is the key.

So what to do?

A basic understanding that everyone is just trying to get someplace and would like to do so in peace would be a good way to start. How someone chooses to move about does not matter, what matters is that they want to do so in peace.

That's it.

Something else to think about though.

Cyclists take note - you are not being picked on by people in cars. Honest. People in cars who "teach you a lesson" by getting too close, buzz you, honk in a way to cause you to startle, cut you off, etc are not giving you any special treatment. They do this to other people in cars as well. Just watch traffic carefully sometime. Some people just, as they said in the movie Groundhog Day, drive angry. Sadly, the consequences of this behaviour almost always end in tragedy for everyone involved when a car connects with a bicycle. It would not surprise me if those on bikes who break seem to break every rule in the book would do so in a car as well. It is people, not their chosen mode of transport, that is the issue.

Which, in a round about way, brings me back to the ambassadors. They are wonderful. cheerful, and put a happy face on the cycling world for both users of bikes and others. They are giving out these nifty booklets as well to help educate people on bicycles. Here is a pdf of it from the region: http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/gettingAround/resources/CYCLING_SAFETY_BOOKLET.pdf

It contained no surprises for me, but is a very good idea for those who may not be aware of what it contains.

Good job Region.

fog is better

One of my friends, a fellow photographer, made an excellent observation on facebook this morning that goes something like this: "this light and fog is killing me slowly as I weep in my cube :("

What light you ask? Why this light.

It was divine. Just enough light to make everything glow, and just enough fog to put a sweet sweet soft filter over everything visible.

Unlike those in this building, I got to spend my morning in a cubical free world (although, to be fair, I am not sure that there is a single cubical in the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, but still and all, I was outside, they were inside. 'Nuff said.)

My office looked more like this.

It is not that I had no work today, it is just that it did not fall first thing in the morning. Thus, I was able to get out and about on the bicycle and really enjoy myself before heading off to my job for the day. 

My favourite way of photographing fog is to do what I usually do not do which is to shoot directly into the sun. The contrast and shadow it produces is marvelous as the fog acts like a huge light diffuser over the sun. The results attained when shooting like this appeal to me very much.

This may be it for the sun for a while; the weather forecast for the next week, starting sometime tomorrow mid-day, is for a serious amount of rain.

I do hope they are in error though as I wish to ride the bike. I worked out that I need to do at least 30km a day until the end of the year if I am going to reach my mileage goal of beating last year's total of 8345km. A recent and painful crash sidelined me for almost two weeks from any real riding, and mechanical problems on my cyclocross bike cost me almost 2000km of mileage due to it being out of commission while a frequently breaking wheel and some drive train woes got sorted (turned out the whole entire drive train, including the rear derailleur and the inline barrel adjusters were smoked, so too was the rear hub - I had cracked it!) 

Now though, I am good to go and am hoping to make it.  

Incidentally, I neglected to mention that I was able to ride the 'cross bike today for the first time since my crash a couple of weeks ago. It was like being gifted with wings.

out riding because I had no other choice, really

It happens to me sometimes. I have no choice. A bicycle has to be ridden.

Today, I spent a rather pleasant half hour talking to a person I have not spoken to, but have seen before; had a nice visit with an old friend I "bumped" into while riding; and talked to a very nice construction worker building a new high rise condo about the rigours of working through a Canadian winter. He says he has done this for years, and is dreading it.

Oh, and I used my new light as a bright "lookit me!!" light again. A review will be forthcoming when I get the rest of my pictures taken with it sometime this week or early next. I also logged a pitiful 32km or so - at least 30-50km per day needs to be logged by year's end if I am to break 8.5k km by New Year's Day.

But here is the light:

And some more of the new building going in at Allen and Park Streets in Waterloo. I have been watching this go up with interest all year as it is going to change the face of the neighbourhood I grew up in rather significantly (and that is a neighbourhood that I still love.)

why I sometimes like jpeg

Approximately six or so years ago, I revived my interest in photography with my first "good" digital camera. It was one of those Canon super zoom things with just enough manual controls to give the illusion of full control without really allowing it. Today, I use a blend of gear - an Olympus E-3 dslr which is showing some wear but generates lovely results, and a Fuji X-10 compact for taking everywhere.

It was, and is, fun

Today, though, I do things a little differently than I did when I started working with digital cameras. My technique is better, my understanding of how to expose and compose a picture is better, and I have developed a work flow that serves my purposes very well.

For example, I always shoot raw and expose to the right. At first, I had no choice and shot jpegs but when I have a choice, I shoot raw.

If you are interested in photography, you know about the raw vs jpeg debate. If you don't it goes something like this: raw = more flexibility, more depth, better highlight recovery, better shadow detail, a higher level of detail because there is no data loss, etc etc etc while jpeg = faster, more convenient, nail it in camera and don't need pp, etc etc etc.

Funny thing is, both sides of the debate are right. And both are wrong.

In reading about the X-10 that I use as my take anywhere camera, it would be easy to come away with the idea that the raw functionality of the camera is not needed since the jpegs out of the camera are somehow sprinkled in magic pixie dust or something which makes them better than any other camera's output under the sun.

Part of this has to do with fanboyism I am sure. And part of this has to do with lousy raw format support by Adobe and Apple (through no fault of their own - does Fuji give over how to process the EXR sensor raws? I am not sure) and rather lousy software from Fuji to process raws. And a large part of this has to do with the truly excellent jpeg engine that Fuji has in their cameras.

The trick, by the way, when shooting raw with the Fuji is to shoot raw and jpeg at the same time, select size medium and fine output, set the DR to 400%, and use LR4 to convert the half size generated raws into DNG upon import. This gives nice and chunky low res raws with huge dynamic range which are very flexible and somehow the aberrations that people have reported from EXR raws seem to be gone. I don't know why, but I do know I get my best results this way.

However, for those who like to just shoot and who are not into a lot of pp work, jpegs are much much easier.

Which brings me to why I sometimes like jpegs.

Every one of these pictures is a straight from the camera jpeg from the Fuji X-10.  All I did was crop the picture a bit, and in the case of the motorcycle, remove the number plate data. For shooting in black and white, the jpeg engine in the camera produces exactly the results I like with no messing around at all and does so consistently and well. All I have to do is remember to tweak the exposure compensation dial on top of the camera and focus on composition. The camera does the rest.

For colour, and for my Olympus gear, it is raw all the way. But when I feel like shooting black and white, it is, in my opinion, hard to top what I am getting out of my Fuji.

Incidentally, for those who use this camera, the settings I used for the above pictures are as follows: Medium Size, Fine, DR at Auto, Sharpness -1, Highlight Tone +1, Shadow Tone -1, Noise Reduction -2.

why looking down can sometimes matter

I have been enjoying a rare perfect fall day. The appointment that I had for the day fell through, which left me at loose ends for part of the day. I took advantage of that, and the perfect weather, to head out for a walk around a local plot of land owned by the University of Waterloo. Often, it is possible to find and record a significant amount of wildlife at this location if care is taken to be quiet and respectful of animals and their habitat.

A family (I assume it is a family - but I have seen only one of them) of beavers have moved into the area and have made a dam on the stream that feeds Columbia Lake. This has resulted in the creation of a duck pond and a deepening and widening of the creek back of the dam. It is quite impressive actually:

The above video shows the dam, and the new pond which was created back of it.

Here are some of the other things I found while there.

And here is why you look down...