The Roads Taken

Slime tubes from JensonUSA

2010-04-12T07:32:00.000-07:00

Being tired of changing tubes on the roads so many times, I searched for this to no avail in Taiwan. I ordered ones at JensonUSA on Friday and received the package in Taiwan Monday morning. This California store never delivered this fast to me when I paid 9.5% state sales tax.

I've been having flat tire per approximately every 100km ride. I had seven or eight flat tires so far. One occasion I found a small piece of wire stuck in the tire and another occasion I found a tiny glass shred. All other times no trace was left behind except the tiny puncture in the tube.

Pingsi(平溪) - Wufenshan (五分山) - Shunagsi (雙溪)

2010-04-11T04:34:00.000-07:00

Taipei-Pingsi route seems to be very popular to local cyclists. The road had waves of outbound riders in Saturday morning. The seven-eleven store at the junction of R-106 and R-106乙 are crowded with cyclists using this point as a meeting place, filling water and food, and using restrooms. Some heads on R-106 to Pingsi and some do on R-106乙 to Pinglin.

The best part of the ride is in the section between Pingsi and Wufenshan. The Wufenshan road is dead ended at the weather radar station at the peak hence there is rarely motor vehicle traffic. My buddy told me beautiful deep blue water of Pacific ocean and northern shoreline of Taiwan could be seen from the Wufenshan on a clear day. The ocean view was hidden behind muggy hazy air. Crispy clear days are rarity in Taiwan.

Cyclists gathering at Seven-Eleve store at the junction of R-106 and R-106乙

Historic Jintong railway station at Pingsi.

Weather radar at the peak of Wufenshan (五分山)

A group of cyclists are taking pictures at the gate of the radar station.

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Mount Datun (大屯山)

2010-04-05T05:05:00.000-07:00

Last time I climbed Yangmingshan, I noticed the uphill road to the peak of Datunshan (大屯山) and saved it for the next ride. It is a pretty steep climb with average grade of 10% (230m elevation gain within 2.3km ride) and some section has >15% grade.

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The rain was on an off. The peak was engulfed in dense fog. I saw nothing but vast gray space. The picture in the board is the scene I missed due to the weather.

On the way to Yangmingshan NP, an open stream of hot water. The steam comes through the grid.

Shimaoshan seen from Tianmu. Shimao(紗帽) means 'sand hat'. This peaks look like a hat from this angle might be a volcanic cinder cone.

Bike ride to Wulai and Tonghou road

2010-04-05T04:44:00.000-07:00

Traffic is moderate to heavy between Sindian(新店) and Wulai (烏來) but beyond Wulai, there is hardly any traffic as R-9甲 goes a dead end at Tonghou (桶后) road. The Tonghou road is single lane paved with either tarmac or concrete. The only traffic on this road is either hiker or mountain bikers.

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Wulai fall

A statue of aboriginal man and his dogs.

Pristine water in the upper stream Wulai at Tonghou road. Sewage merges to the water few kilometers down the stream.

The Tonghou road is followed by off road trail. According to the board at the entrance, the length of the trail is 7km. I explored few hundred meters from the entrance. The double track trail was leveled and gently graded. I found prints of knobby mountain bike tires. It would have been nice for a cross county bike if the trail was few times longer. I saw parked vehicles with mountain bikes on the rack. I guessed they wouldn't come this far to ride merely 7 km trail.

Yangmingshan (陽明山 /Yángmíng Shān/) Loop

2010-03-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

Yangmingshan national park comprises number of volcanic formation peak ranging from 800m to 1,100m but there is no mountain called Yangminshan. Chisingshan(1,120m) and Datunshan(1,092m) are two highest peaks within the national park boundary.

The highest point of the bike route on route 101甲/Jiǎ/ is 830m above sea level. The ride to this point is quite aerobic as it gains quite an elevation in a short distance.

I sought a route passing Tianmu(天母/Tiānmǔ/) where I am looking for housing during my stay in Taipei. This corner of Taipei is home for two foreign schools - American and Japanese. This area is referred as foreign enclave in Taipei. There was a quite nice uphill route connecting Tianmu to Yangmingshan national park. Steep uphill with little traffic seems to be good for a morning workout.

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Path to Xiabanling(下半嶺/Xià bànlǐng/) from Tianmu. There is a stream next to it that emits pungent sulfur odor. The smell was not from decaying sewage but from the sulfur spring on the mountain that merges to this stream.

A seven-eleven on the way offers air pump and bike tools as courtesy. It was presta valve head in case anyone wonders.

A geyser spewing steam.

A mountain road entrance to Datunshan peak. The public rest room is a magnet for cyclists. I didn't check if the road is open to bike traffic to the peak. Please post if anyone knows.

Road cycling in Taiwan

2010-03-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

I bugged and begged a colleague then I was in his road cycle racing team on a weekend picnic ride. Merely a picnic of 120km of ride with 1,300m of total climb... The picnic begun at 竹南 (Zhú nán) railroad station.

Taiwan railroad allows carrying a bike aboard. It charges 1.5 times the fare for a passenger with a bike. The railroad fare is very cheap and 1.5 times of it is still cheap. It is not the fare that bothers. When I heard of carrying a bike on board I thought something like this and I was very wrong.

A bike on a train rack in San Jose, California.

Here is the catch. The Taiwan railroad requires the bike rider to put the bike in carrying bag that looks like this.

First of all, the carrying bag is quite heavy and carrying it in a backpack for entire bike ride is a punishment for a rider. I checked but the train stations didn't have coin locker to put the bag in. Thankfully I could put it in a car that one of our riders parked. Second, the rider has to disassemble wheels and seat post to put the bike into a bag and re-assemble them again at the end of the train ride. You have to repeat the same process again on the way back. There are lots of stair ways in an out of platform and train. The station was not designed for wheeled access nor retrofitted to it. This maybe why the riders are required to put the bike in a bag and carry it on shoulder strap for stairways. If anyone in the railroad bureau has done mountain bike ride, they should have known that a whole bike without bag is easier to carry on shoulder.

I don't advocate that a train station has to build a wheeled access for bike riders. Wheeled access is necessity for other group of out neighbors. A wheelchair rider cannot access a place that cannot be accessed by a bike.

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The route left 竹南 (Zhú nán) and led to hilly valleys of 銅鑼 (Tóngluó) and 三義 (Sānyì) then climbs up to the southern ridge of 鯉魚潭 (Lǐ yú tán) reservoir. The returning route passing 大湖(Dàhú) township is flat and good for the tired riders.

This was my first road ride and found it could be enjoyable as well. I had great companies to ride with. We had a two hour gourmet lunch break. What a luxury compared to energy bar lunch that I used to have during mountain bike rides.

I found Taiwanese drivers are much more courteous to bike riders than their counter parts in California. In a narrow road that bikes couldn't give way to vehicles, drivers were patient enough to follow slow bikes without honking or exhibiting any rage. Some drivers honked to pass but it was as a gentle reminder for approaching vehicle. None of the occasion I met same kind of assholes that I met on Skyline Boulevard in San Francisco bay area which is supposed to be one of more civilized places in US.

Streets in Taiwan are often crowded with cars, trucks, buses, scooters, bicycles, pedestrians and dogs. It seems to be a total mess to eyes of a visitor. If you look close, there still is order that makes this chaotic system work. One day I was riding in a street of Taipei. Traffic signal changed behind me and soon I was caught up in a swarm of scooter and cars. They all passed me without anyone getting bothered by my speed. It was like a super fluid passing an obstacle. A mob cross street and at the same time a swarm of scooters take right turns into the mob. Two different fluids mix and separate without interacting each other.

The racing team brought folding mini velos for picnic ride.

Sculptures celebrating road cycling were seen on the way.

Abandoned ruin of railroad bridge. A big earthquake might have brought the brick structure down.

Sunset seen on the way back.

Taipei Bike Path - The day 3

2010-03-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

I rode 基隆河(Jī lóng hé) bike trail. It was thin mist in the morning then turned to drizzle and then steady rain.

The quality of the water is same as other rivers that pass Taipei and it makes contrast to pretty bridges above it. There is a big construction of a wharf going on the south shore of the river. I rode into the construction area to find that it ends at a dead end. I wished there was a sign telling the closure and detour of the trail. I might has missed sign or there wasn't any.

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Bridges make a good rain shelter.

Many rugby games were being played at the riverside park. Another popular sport on riverside park baseball.

The grand hotel (圓山大飯店) seen from the bike trail. This upscale architecture has been an icon of Taipei when there wasn't Taipei 101.

Taipei Bike Path - The day 2

2010-03-07T02:14:00.000-08:00

Rain was forecast and the sky was overcast. Rain was better than shine. Back of my neck was sore from the sunburn yesterday. Though the air was muggy due to high humidity and pollution, I got good dose of radiation that made my exposed skin sore. No wonder why most of the Taiwanese bikers I met were in bank robbery outfits.

Since I had a km-centurion yesterday, I wanted to make a stretch to a mile-centurion but I ended up several miles shy of the 100 miles. I've got two flats this time. One in the front after 60km and another in the rear after 120km. I had three spare tubes and I used them up all including one pinch puncture I made during the tube change.

Overall the bike path system in Taipei is excellent. There are many access points to the trail over bridges and river bank that are gently graded for bike ride or wheel chair access. What is good for bike is also good for wheel chair riders and children. For the length of the paths, I guess there aren't many cities that one can ride a mile-centurion without leaving the bike path.

Farther away from the city center, the bike path meets lots of well gardened parks where naturally curved bike path is a part of the garden. The smell and color of the water also improve in the upper streams. It is a big asset for Taipei to have big rivers in the middle of the city and that connects to the sea in short distance. However, when it is not managed, the city ends up being built around big bodies of sewage water. I hope one day I see water skiers, wind surfers and sail boats in the Taipei water because that is clear sign that Taipei started to separate sewage from the clean storm water.

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There are so many stray dogs in the river bank. I don't know whether they are lost, abandoned or raised in the free range. Most of deserted family pets don't leave the place the were abandoned. The wait for the owner to come and pick them up. Today was a bit chilly for Taiwanese standard. I saw two puppies curled up each other sharing body temperature to take a nap. I don't know how they feed, but most of them looked healthy except few that looked too malnutritioned or limping one of the legs.

Granite tile paved bike path at 碧潭 (Bì tán). What a luxury ride. There are no more sewage joining to the river beyond this point. The water is blue just like its name.

A cafe I sat for a break after 70km ride. The lady owner was very kind and she had enough sense to put flower bottle at the table. I had a peanut butter spread toast, a boiled egg and a cup of Oolong milk tea. The tea was unbelievable. I am getting addicted to tea drinking during the ride.

Tapei 101 scraping the low cloud in the far sight.

A realist sign probably equivalent to "Pick after you pet." You can feel its still warm.

A celebration of a fat knobby tire. I am yet to find place to ride this tire.

Taipei Riverside Bike Path

2010-03-06T02:40:00.000-08:00

Walking around in Taipei is quite an experience. In many small streets, sidewalk doesn't even exist. Pedestrians share the same road with cars, trucks, buses and swarm of scooters. There are larger avenues or boulevards that has sidewalks but they are generally used extension of the properties. Sidewalks are used as scooter parking lots, kitchen of restaurants, storages, etc. When there are spots of vacancy, there usually are our canine friends taking nap laying on their sides in full stretch. They wouldn't bother to get up whoever on feet or on wheels wants to pass.

I gave up walking in the street. I ambulated on treadmill instead. After staying as a hamster in a running wheel for a whole week, a 100km bike ride felt really good. I wished to cover farther but my speed was limited by pedestrians and weekend bike traffic that included children. I got flat tire three times. One occasion I found a peace of sharp wire on the tire. Other two, the tire was stabbed by small sharp object that I suppose broken glass. I ran out of two spare tubes that I took in the backpack. On the way I bought three more at a bike shop next to the tail.

The ride was fairly easy and there is no hill climb except accessing bridges. It was length of time and weather that made me hungry and thirsty. On the way back I grabbed a cold bottle of sweetened green tea that tasted heavenly.

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I met this cubist monkey sculpture on the way to 八里(Bālǐ). Judging from the size it must have been an expensive project. I wished sculpture was less uglier. This reminded me the old movie 'Planet of Apes', where Charlton Heston finds ruin of the statue of liberty at the end.

Mangrove thrives in the tidal zone of the estuary.

I guess they are the same type of 'egg' digesters seen from Boston harbor, deer island sewage treatment plant. I was glad to know that not all the sewage goes to the sea in raw form.

This is called 關渡橋 (Guān dùqiáo). The east side of the river is bike path to 淡水(Dànshuǐ) which means clear water. The water seen from the bike path makes this name ironical.

This place is called 金色水岸 (Jīn sè shuǐ àn) meaning 'golden water front' that might have been named after the color at the sunset across the water. The bike path was filled up with mob of tourists and weekender. I turned back as I didn't want to hike the bike the crowd any further.

Grant park

2010-02-20T18:34:00.000-08:00

Get control and ride dry.

Two California oak trees and three riders.

A Spring Day in Almaden Valley

2010-02-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

We pay tax and the government hires park rangers. They create jobs for them. They spent tax dollars to install a steel gate and a big sign to close a perfectly fine trail for no reason.

The late morning sun burns off the fog in the quicksilver park.

California golden poppies in Santa Teresa park.

Mustard follower bloom in Santa Teresa park.

Fort Ord single trails loop

2010-02-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

Thanks to sandy soil, Fort Ord trails remain ridable through rainy days. Unlike local parks in the bay area that has more rangers than users, this place never closes the trail for weather. I guess this weather proof nature contributed this place to be home for the Sea Otter Classic. Yellow track in the map is the 20-mile Sea Otter Classic cross country racing course.

We took a variation from the Sea Otter course. There are some great single trails that the Sea Otter course misses. Some of the trails are littered with 5.56mm blank shells that were used for combat exercises when this place was home for 7th infantry division.

Bike ride feels like almost heaven in a perfect spring day in Fort Ord. Rolling knolls are covered with fresh green and wild flowers begun to bloom.

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Urban Mountain Bike

2010-01-31T11:18:00.000-08:00

Impressed by a bike shown at "Perks and the City Bike" (the picture above), I decided to build one for myself. I located a pair of used American Classic 29er mountian bike wheels and put 700x25c slick tires on them. I was concerned if narrow road tire could fit to the wide mountain bike rim until I pumped it up to 90psi and the tire gripped the rim like a vise.

I set them with a 26" hardtail mountain bike. The wheel diameter including tire is ever slightly larger than that of a 26" wheel with a 2.35" fat tire. The Fox fork has enough clearance. I am thinking of trying 28mm or 30mm cyclo-cross tires on this bike for rides on fireroads.

With high pressure slick tires, this bike moves pavement like skating on ice. I rarely felt 44:11T gear ratio was not enough for a mountain bike but with this one. I found this bike is a good alternative to ride on paved hills when overprotective Santa Clara county park rangers close the bike trails for weeks after rain. I still don't understand what harm a bike ride can do to the trail. They drive up trucks and even bulldozers to the same fireroad where bikes and horses are banned.

Google Earth KML(KMZ) to GPX or any other tracklog format

2010-01-25T08:12:00.000-08:00

If you want to bring google earth KML data for your ride, this is how to convert the KML file to a generic GPX file or any other format your GPS receiver can track. GPSbabel can convert virtually any format to another. It is free to download and use.

Sierra Azul loop

2010-01-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

California had a year worth of rainfall in last ten days. Last Saturday was a short break between three or four storms that hit California day after another. All the mountain bike trails were closed or turned into mud puddles.

Sierra Azul is one place that remains open and ridable after this record rainfall. We took paved Hick Road to the trailhead. It would have been nicer if we could use trails in Almaden Quicksilver Park that have been closed for weeks. This Santa Clara county park is quick to close the bike trails and slow to reopen them. It is difficult to imagine what harms caused by those fat knobby low pressure bike tires that the fire roads have to be protected from. The woods trail in Sierra Azul OSP right next to the Quicksilver however has the same geology and weather but under different management remains open dry or rain, or even in snow.

Encompassing 2,900ft peak of El Sombroso, Woods and Kennedy roads are steep strenuous multi track trails that require no technique but plenty of oxygen intakes. Sierra Azul may be the last trail any biker wants to ride in good dry days but it shines after ten days of rain.

The ride felt great after having been locked up indoors for so many days. The trails were well drained and remain surprisingly good conditions except few spots of small mud slides and fallen rocks. We had sprinkles of rain during the ride and our backs were all sprayed up with mud. We grew hungry and thirsty at the end of the ride. The GPS track ends at a local pizzeria where we filled hunger and quenched thirst with cold beer.

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Hoover dam bypass bridge

2010-01-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

I took this shot while I was held in the traffic at Hoover dam from Arizona to Nevada.

I knew that the Hoover dam was quite a gigantic project in the 30s. Even more mind boggling for me was this bypass highway flying across the canyon high up in the sky. It seemed that they started building an arch in the middle of thin air, then raised pillars on it and now the deck is being placed. There is a website (http://www.hooverdambypass.org) for public on this project and this is how they put the arch in the air.

Once the construction is done, will this make the world highest bungee jump stand?

Mt. Diablo

2010-01-10T21:53:00.000-08:00

Mt. Diablo is frequently visited place for road bikers. It has well paved road running all the way up to the peak. For off-roaders, it has two or three multi track dirt roads to the top. The dirt roads merge to the pavement about a mile before the peak.

If anyone wants to take a mountain bike loop shown in this map, I recommend riding in counter clockwise direction. A 20% incline trail is easier to ride downward than the other way around.

There are better mountain bike trails in the bay area than ones on Mt. Diablo state park. However the boredom of the climb will be rewarded by the view at the peak. View of the pacific ocean beyond the Golden Gate Bridge is a head turn away from that of snow covered Sierra Nevada mountains.

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Marin Headlands

2010-01-05T17:07:00.000-08:00

Marin Headlands connects to Mt. Tamalpais state park and to Muir Woods making a vast belt of wilderness preserve just a bridge away from the San Francisco metro.

Being an icon of San Francisco, Golden gate bridge heavily visited place and the parking lot is always filled up. I found parking in the Presidio a block away from the bridge. Zoom in the map to see where I parked.

Bicycle traffic uses west side of the bridge sidewalk. New rider usually finds lots of distracts on the bridge. Watch out for the bike commuters who rides very fast on the bridge. They usually are quite skillful in dodging the sightseeing riders but their speed could be intimidating for a newbie in a narrow bike lane stretched 67 meters above water.

There are designated bike trails in the headlands - mostly fire roads and some single or double trails. Trails are mildly graded with less than 10% incline except the last short section of the coastal trail that leads to the top of the hill. Incline of >15% with loose gravels is at borderline of my hike-a-bike limit. This climb however gets rewarded with the 360 degree unobstructed scenery at the top.

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Sky scrappers in the San Francisco downtown is seen along with the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge is seen over a rolling hill of Marin Headlands.

Gerbode valley seen from Bobcat trail

Gold Gate Bridge view from a peak on the coastal trail. South of the bridge is still engulfed in dense ocean fog. The last section of the coastal trail up to this hill has some significant incline.

Goathead, Puncturevine or Tribulus terrestris

2009-10-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

I've got flat tires quite many times in last few years and 90% of them is traced back to a goathead (puncturevine) thorn. I removed thorns from the tire many times but couldn't identify the plant the thorns are came from.

This mean looking plant can irritate your leg if those needles are stuck to your pants or socks but they won't give you a flat tire. The needles are not tough enough to penetrate a bike tire. This plant is called yellow star thistle. Quite a descriptive name.

This benign looking plant is the public enemy of cyclists. They look harmless to run over.

Here is the closer look of the seeds of the plant.

The cluster of the spikes are easily separated into tetrapod shaped pikes. It always have at least one pike directing upward. Any tire that runs over is guaranteed to get multiple punctures.

Wilder Ranch SP, Santa Cruz

2009-10-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

Wilder ranch state park is one place that is nice to ride in a hot day. There are plenty of shade in the redwood forest. The open meadow has cool sea breeze in any hot day. The scenic ride on the ocean bluff will quench the sweat in no time. A 30 mile loop ride can be made out of this medium to small size park and most of the ride is on single trail.

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China Camp

2009-09-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

The most trail that can be squeezed out of this small state park is 10 miles at the best. The trails are just like any bike trails in the bay area. It has pretty view of north bay from the peak.

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Shoreline loop

2009-09-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

City of Mountain View is streched to Shoreline park where the land meet the bay water. There is always cool northern wind from the bay. This makes it no sweat to ride the 10-mile loop even in hot summer days. The trail is marked with stench like decaying anchovy from the mud and shallow salt water (called bay soup) broilled under the sun. According to the eduationcal posts in the park, the decay of the organic material rich bay soup is a crucial part of the bay eco-system. On the trail are bikers, joggers and bird photographers with a mortar size telescopic lenses slung on the shoulder.

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Downieville Downhill

2009-09-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Downieville is a tiny town on highway-49 crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains. The town was settled in the Yuba river valley in the time of California gold rush. There is no more gold mining but the trails developed in the past are dedicated to mountain bikes and dirt bikes. This town holds Downieville Classic every July.

Local bike shop operates shuttle between Downieville (2,090ft) and Packer Saddle (7,070ft). The shortes ride back to the town is a 14-mile downhill. We tried to go to FS93-3 road and the Big Boulder trail. We returned where the trail became narrow and tracks fade in woods.

Most of the ride is very entertaining except the one called "2nd divide". This portion of the trail is mostly on thin terrace high above the roaring white water creek. There are lots of ups and downs and plenty of exposure to steep cliff down to the white water valley. In many places there is no return if bike slips or falls to wrong direction. It is somewhat like riding bike on a roller coaster track in terms of height and exposure. More riders take 3rd divide trail rather than 2nd divide.

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This Guillotine shaped equipment is an exhibit of Downieville heritage. It has cams and hammers mechanism that were used for shattering gold ores.

Point Lobos

2009-09-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Point Lobos is a small place right for a short family hike with little chidren. The land meets ocean at sansy or rocky beaches, bluffs and cliffs. There are many short trails with awesome views. Self guided walk with a flyer is educational for any age. Entrace fee is $10.00 for a vehicle. Some park on Rte-1 to avoid the vehicle entrance fee. Crossing Rte-1 is dangerous as vehicles don't expect pedestrian crossing in this area. Beware, there are plenty of poison oaks along the trails.

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Tahoe Rim Trail - Brockway Summit to Tahoe City

2009-07-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Tahoe rim trail (TRT) stretches 165mile around the Lake Tahoe. Roughly half of the stretch is open to mountain bikes. That is about 80 miles which is 2-4 day rides. Brockway summit to Tahoe City section is a 20miles segment that is open to bikes all the time.

The north end fo the trail begins on R267, 2.7mile from the R28 junction. The other side of the trail head is on Fairway Drive, Tahoe City. Traveling distance between two trail heads is about 20 miles if stayed on TRT.

The trail is not much technical, except few spots that are rocky or tangled with outcropping tree roots where I chose to walk the bike. Climb or descend is mildely graded with switchbacks. One part of the trail meanders through a pine grove. Riding gently graded downhill in this grove feels more like a cruise.

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A day hike at Cedar Grove, Kings Canyon NP

2009-07-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

The most difficult part of going out a day hike with family is getting consensus of the kids. There are different tricks and tactics to motivate them per their ages but nothing works to a teenage girl. So when we arrived at the trail head, my wife and I were already half exhausted.

The trail head of Hotel Creek is behind the Cedar Grove Lodge, past the shower facility. The entire valley has one shower facility with less than a dozen booths. Shower is operated by a token that can be purchased at the grocery store at the lodge. Each costs $3.50 and is good for a ten minute shower.

Hotel Creek trail has lots of switchbacks exposed to beating sun. The climb is strenuous and can be dangerous if you have group of rude hikers in front of you. We had a team ahead of us who yelled and shouted quite few times. I saw a honeydew sized rock rolled down and passed few yards in front of us. I suspect it was due to acts of reckless trail users.

Hotel creek leads to the Cedar Grove Overlook located on the top of the rocky ridge that puts the view of the entire valley under the feet. We didn't take the course to the overlook as we heard the shouting of the rude hikers in that direction.

Above 6,000ft is pine grove and above the pine trees is the majestic crest of high sierra. The hike through the shades of tall pine trees (ponderosa I guess) is very enjoyable.

The trail meets Lewis Creek trail. It is another sun beaten steep slope crisscrossed with switchbacks. I wished the trail to cross the cool water of the creek however it never did although the water is seen and heard from the trail.

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The trail passes pine grove after hard climb of hotel creek trail. I was overly successful in motivating the little girl and she started hopping and running.

An unobstructed view of majestic sierra crest above the pine grove.

A burnt skeleton of a pine tree on the hotel creek trail.

East of the Kings Canyon seen from the Hotel Creek trail. The U-shaped valley tells that it was formed by glacier activities.

Roads end

2009-07-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

Roads end. Trails begin.

Henry Coe SP - Hunting Hollow Entrance

2009-06-15T20:37:00.000-07:00

If you start a ride at north entrance (HQ entrance) of the Henry Coe SP, the ride begins at elevation of 2,600ft and you descend down to China hole at elevation of 800ft. The 1,800ft of elevation loss is all liability that you should payback on the way back.

The Hunting Hollow entrance is located at the bottom of a valley at elevation about 800ft. Trail can go all the way to the top of Wilson peak at elevation of 2,600ft. The way back is down hill all the way through chaparral, grassy knolls and shady forest in the valleys. The elevation you gained is stored in a form of gravitational potential energy that you can convert to kinetic energy on the way back.

The single trail connecting domino pond - cattle duster - grapevine is one of the most beautiful trails I've ever ridden. The razor thin trail plows through overgrown grass. The trail meanders over smooth hills and valleys. The downhill is so sweet that I wanted to ride as slow as possible so I could stay longer.

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A grassy flat at upstream of Kelly lake

Prescribed burn along Coit road

A sweet single trail: cattle duster - grapevine trail

Rancho Canada del Oro

2009-05-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

Rancho Canada del Oro is one of two OSP(Open Space Preserve) that Santa Clara County OSP Authority manages. The other one is in Milpitas, next to Alum Rock park which are laughably small compared to the midpenneinsular OSP that covers vast area along the Skyline Boulevard.

RCdO has a clean and nice parking lot and a single loop of dirt trail that totals 10-11 miles out and back and that is it. The trail is well polished up and cleanly carved probably by a bobcat loader. The tire print of the loader was still visible when I rode. Muddy spots are filled with gravels and flattened. It doesn't need any technicality in bike riding but lots of oxygen and sweat for plentiful climbing.

The trail is very uncrowded. I visited twice and haven't met a single bike rider. I only met two hikers and one of them hiked from the neighboring Calero park. This may be why mountain lions are spotted on trail in a day light.

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Calero reservoir seen from the bald peaks. The ares from here to the reservoir belongs to Calero County park.

RCdO shares boundary with Calero County park that is mainly an equestrian park and very few hikers. Bike ride is strictly prohibited in the boundary of this park. At the bottom of the Catamount trail, one gets tired of strenuous uphills and tempted to take a 0.7 miles downhill shortcut back to the parking lot instead of taking 3.6 miles of hilly trail involving another 600 feet of climbing. I guess someone did that and he was caught in a hidden camera. The trail cam not only takes picture of mountain lion family but illegal bike riders who are considered to be vermin of the equestrian park.

Next time I go RCdO, I'll need to call the park to check if the trail is still open to bike. A single biker who crosses the boundary to the Calero equestrian park can shut down the entire RCdO to bike traffic and turn it to another equestrian park. Did I misread the post if I feel someone is looking forward to this opportunity.

American Avocet

2009-05-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

I went to Shoreline park in Mountain View for a short bike ride and came across this family of dauntless birds. I saw this bird chasing off seaguls more than double in body size and divebombed like a dart to a landed raven. Those small birds fiercely patrolled their airspace and didn't allow anyone to get even near to it. It was like watching a small scale airshow as this bird diplayed maneuvers like a fighter plane in a dogfight.

Then I soon found the reason. They were parenting a chic.

Their chopsticks like beaks are for picking crustacean from muds and their legs are to wade or paddle in shallow water. None of their body is designed for mid air dogfight. They are American Avocets.

Poison Oak

2009-05-04T23:32:00.000-07:00

Having been in poison ivy infested New England quite many years, I heard a lot about the rash this plant could cause. Thanks to safety training at schools, very little kids including mine were able to identify this malicious plant but I could not. I rode bike there but mostly in paved rail-to-trail bike roads where I didn't have chance to rub myself against any poisonous plant. The terrain I lived didn't have many mountains but some hills and lots of ponds or swamps formed during the last ice age. When it came to itchy things, mosquitoes were ubiquitous.

Then I moved to California and I immediately noticed this place is missing mosquitoes along with winter snow to plow and autumn leaves to rake. Though native Californians take it granted, I really appreciated the freedom from these itchy flying insects until I came across a super itchy one.

Poison oak is benign looking shrub with leaves mimicking those of baby oak tree. It's twig and leaves secrete toxic resin that contains urushiol. This chemical is the common ingredient to poison ivy and poison sumac that causes skin rashes when contacted. Urushiol is so potent that one billionth of gram can cause a skin rash, or human immune system is that much sensitive to this chemical species.

One day, I bumped into a tree branch with my face. The branch gently hit my eye lid, side of the face to the ear as I pass by on the bike. It didn't hurt because I wasn't speeding. I forgot about this incident until I got up in the morning with a swollen eye lid that I couldn't open more than an half way. It then blistered, oozed, crusted and peeled off eventually.

I realized everybody knew poison oak in this town just like every small kids knew poison ivy in New England. Just in case someone doesn't know what poison oak look like, this is a picture of it. It has characteristic three leaves with each one perpendicular to the next.

Some branches sticking out to the trail are at ideal position to hit face or arm of a bike rider who gets too close to the edge of the trail.

Poison oaks usually form shrub when they grow together. When it meet a large tree, it becomes a vine and climbs the host tree. The vine hangs down from the branch of the host tree. The eye sight of a cyclist goes downward rather than upward because of the posture of cycling. This makes most of the cyclists unaware of this danger hanging from above. I thinks it was one of these hanging branches that I bumped into with my face.

Broken chain

2009-04-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

The brand new Shimano chain is broken in the middle of a steep hill climb. I went to a bike shop at Sports Basement and asked a repair link. The bike technician across the counter asked me if I reconnected the Shimano chain using the same pin that was factory installed which I did.

"Didn't you read the fine print?" He said. "Shimano chain, 9-speed and above will fail if you push back the same factory installed pin you pushed out. You must use special pin when you reconnect."

Well, the chain wasn't shipped to me with any manual or any print. He passed me an 'SRAM powerlink'.

Another link in the chain that I reconnected failed the next day and that was precisely what the bike technician predicted. This time, I had a repair link in the saddle bag. Now my chain carries two SRAM powerlinks it works fine so far.

Saratoga Gap to Monte Bello

2009-04-25T14:33:00.001-07:00

After few days of record hot weather in the valley we wanted to go under shade and voted Saratoga Gap OSP for the weekend ride. It was a little over 20 mile run going out of Saratoga gap, descending thru Grizzly flat, crossing the upper stream of Stevens Creek then steep climb to Monte Bello Ridge followed by scenic decend in rolling grassy knolls, crossingthe Skyline blvd, touching Horseshoe lake, Christmas tree farm, chestnut grove, Peter's creek and finally back to Saratoga gap.

Densely forested single trail near the Saratoga gap was puddled by the drippings from the trees. The ocean fog stayed over night and yet remained dense until nine, ten in the morning. The branches, twigs and leaves catch the tiny water droplets in the air and drip them down to the ground like rain, a heavy rain fall. This is how the forest thrive in the climate that doesn't have a single drop of rain for seven or eight months in a row. Mud coated tires are like butter coated fingers. Everythig they try to grip escapes. Exposed water soaked roots of trees crisscross the trail. They toss the wet tires left and right. Was the weather wet? Not at all. Seven in the morning the sky was blue without a speckle of cloud in the valley. Yet up in the ridge of the Santa Cruz mountians, the tiny floating water droplets stick to glasses, eye browses, hairs and more significantly to the trees.

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The fog cleared a little and I could pull the camera out.

Manzanitas grow along the single trail

Upper stream of Stevens Creek. Water was crystal clear.

Monte Bello ridge seen from the Christmas tree farm. Zigzagging fire road can be seen in blown up picture. Ascend in this road was quite demanding but the scenic descend was rewarding enough.

This office(?) opens in chestnut picking season. On the rusty siding, it says 'chestnut' in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Korean but no English at all. It just tells who the customers are. Chestnut is not native to the new continent. This chestnut was brought and planted by Spaniards who arrived in California in very early history of colonization.

This is the puddle that fog and drippings from the trees created.

Look at the water mark on this otherwise would have been bone dry dirt trail. This small section of the tree captured water, dripped, puddled and created a small stream of running water until the fog finally burnt out by sun.

Fort Ord 3

2009-04-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

The rain during the week has narrowed the choice of the weekend ride and Fort Ord again won the vote for the third week in a row and I wasn't get tired of this place yet.

This time, the Sea Otter Classic organizers have posted the signes and marks on the course in preparation for the events beginning in five days. In some places, the trails are crisscrossing like a spider web and it is not to trace the official Sea Otter Classic MTB tour course (map in PDF document) without getting into wrong track.

This time, the weather wasn't ideal at the end of the rain storm. Cold ocean fog overcasted the sky with few drips of shower. Wind was gusty on the ridges time to time. It turned sunny and warm in the afternoon though. The sheep were nowhere to be seen yet.

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Pinnacles National Monument

2009-04-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

23 million years ago when pacific plate was subducted under the north American continental plate near what is now LA, there were volcanic eruptions that formed what is now called Neenach Formation. The San Andreas fault later torn the volcanic formation into two pieces and carried the western piece to the north for next millions of years and moved it 195 miles from where it was born. The half piece that moved up to Northern California became the Pinnacles National Monument and the other half still stays in Southern California in LA county.

At today's speed of the pacific plate movement of 5cm/year, it will take 3.6 million years for the Pinnacles to move 180km north to San Francisco. The national park service and the city of San Francisco may have to settle for the parking fee. For now, the national park service collects 5 dollars per vehicle and parking ticket is valid for 7 days.

We took a 4.3miles of hike from the Chaparral ranger station parking lot to the high peaks trail loop. The view changes as the viewing angle changes. The high peaks trail weaves through the boulders offering ample opportunities to observe the rocky peaks from all difference angles and elevations. These rocky peaks make homes for large birds. With some luck, you may take a close up view of California condors gliding over tree tops with their 9 ft wingspan.

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The high peaks seen from the parking lot next to Chaparral ranger station

California golden poppy blooming on a slope

A vertical face

Might this one of the California condors?

A laddered and guard railed part of the high peaks trail that entertained my 1st grader girl.

Alum Rock Park

2009-04-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

Alum Rock county park is in the east of San Jose as a part of mountains that makes natural eastern boundary of the Silicon Valley. Alum rock offers nice retreats from the noise and bustles of the city. Few steps into the canyon along the creek makes you forget that the park is located right next to a busy city.

It is not a large park and the park per se offers very easy and short distance of bike trail. However the trail is connected to the hills that is also managed by Santa Clara county open space management. This 8 to miles ride involves an elevation gain of 1,500ft. Putting aside the breath taking view of sunset in the valley, an after work ride on this trail make any beer taste excellent.

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Although my GPS didn make it to the top of the hill, the trail is open to bike traffic and climbable.

This is the last climb at 1,750ft elevation

Alum Rock Park is down in the canyon

I met this guy on the trail and he wasn't shy of camera.

Fort Ord 2

2009-04-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

Making up excuses when nobody even asks is a clear sign of an addiction. I proposed to go to Fort Ord again saying that we need to get aquainted with the Sea Otter Classic course. I did not even register myself for the event. One of us has registered but he didn't need any more aquainance with the trail as he already knew every inch of it. No one objected nor questioned my causes and we went to Fort Ord again on another perfect spring weekend for a heavenly ride of 20 miles.

The ovines dissapeared and so did their shepherd, his team of canines and their trailer home that was parked atop the hill. They might have moved to the other side of the hills. I look for them but they were not seen from the trails I rode. According to the news release, the grazing team of one thousand of sheep was hired by the state of California. They were commissioned to reduce wild fire hazard and to control invasive plants from over populating. Their business trip is scheduled to be at Fort Ord for four months away from their Los Banos home. This means they will be at Fort Ord until end of June or until the grass remains green. I wonder how much they get paid for this mission other than free vegetarian meals. I didn't see a ewe carrying sign saying "Your Tax Dollars at Work" nor "Will Work for Meal."

There was a car race going at the Laguna Seca Raceway. The raceway is going to be a part of the cross country bike trail that the race will be held during the Sea Otter Classic. I wonder what does sea otter do with cycling. When I heard of this first time, I thought it was a water sport event such as swiming or surfing. Maybe it was named after Monterey county that has many sea otters in the Monterey bay and at the Monterey bay aquarium. Sea otters do to this travel attraction what pandas do to San Diego zoo. Both are endangered and equally adorable species.

A bike trail passing by the race track (click the photos to enlarge)

Riding the single track trail#50 feels like strolling in a well maintained garden.

The infamous sandy downhill from the Sandstone Ridge Road.

Fort Ord

2009-03-29T07:50:00.000-07:00

If there is mountain biker's heaven, one spring day at Fort Ord should make an entry there in the cross country category. The twenty mile Sea Otter Classic XC course offers blend of double and single tracks crisscrossing ridges and canyons. Open views from the ridge trails are eye opening. Single trails weaving through groves and chaparrals are playfully entertaining. Few steep uphills are climbable with short bursts of pumpings and long climbs are graded rather humanely. At few spots the leads to patches where wild flowers explode with dazzling colors and intense fragrances. Though exhausted and thirsty I was at the end of the loop, yet I wished the trail was few miles longer. Beware. Fort Ord is addictive.

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Salinas valley seen from the Lookout ridge.

Seven hundred feet above sea level, one may wonder why these trails are made of beach sand. Here is the visual answer. This terrain is made of sandstone or packed beach sand. The eroded sandstone rock in the picture is more like a sand castle than a rock. Beach sand can be nasty at some downhills when it makes your front wheel wobble and slide sideways. However the sandy soil is one of the reason that Fort Ord can be open year around including rainy winter days. It drains the water instantly.

A column of bike riders are seen on a beautiful single track. The Sea Otter Classic is three weeks away and quite few riders prepare themselves for the race.

I've seen lots of bovines on mountain slopes but never seen ovines at this number before. More impressive were herding canines.

Russian Ridge

2009-03-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

Russian ridge is famous for the unobstructed views from the grassy hills. Smoothly graded fire roads and single tracks passing patches of oak forest are easy to ride. Afterwork bike ride on this ridge was more of an evening stroll than an exercise. The ridge makes a water devide between the bay and the pacific and this means one can see the bay and the pacific at the same spot.

We still had an hour of daylight left after finishing the Russian ridge. We headed south to Horse Shoe Lake. This ride is quite aerobic as it covers steep and long uphill and downhill in a short distance (1.4 miles).

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Ancient oak trail has single track passing grassy hills and oak groves.

View of the bay area from the Borel hill. The view overlooks Palo Alto and Stanford University.

Northern stretch of Russian ridge seen at the Borel hill. The Santa Cruz mountain range blocks the ocean fog like a wall. At some places the fog spills over the wall when the ridge line dips down the elevation. Down the bay in Palo Alto, this is seen as hanging cloud on the ridge.

South side stretch of the Santa Cruz mountain range. Sierra Azul with Mt. Umunhum is seen in the backdrop.

A ride over the cloud.

McNee Ranch (Mt. Montara)

2009-03-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

McNee ranch state park has trail system that gives view of pacific ocean and coastline from almost everywhere on the trail. The summit of the Montara mountain presents an unobstructed 360 degrees panorama from Santa Cruz mountain range, entire bay area, Golden Gate Bridge and Mt. Tamalpais across the strait, and the pacific coast all the way from San Francisco to Halfmoon bay.

Neighboring to the McNee ranch, San Pedro mountain on Pacifica side is a magnet to serious downhill riders. The crumbled remnants of old San Pedro road is impassable for four-wheeled vehicles but still good for bikers, hikers and horses. This gentle graded road allows bikers to gain elevation without much effort. The downhill riders take this road to carry their heavy rigs to elevated trailheads.

The old San Pedro road enters the McNee ranch state park and join a fireroad. This section of the fireroad is dubbed with a nickname 'wall' for an obvious reason by the freeriders shuttling with their heavy rig. It is a killer uphill even for light rig riders. The view is breath taking though if you stop and look back over your shoulder.

You would give up and walk the bike if the climb was an inch steeper. Worse is that this uphill is still ridable and hard to find an excuse to step off the pedals.

Freeriders made their amusement park in this grove. They call this park 'boyscout'. Some shared their rides on youtube.

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Spring has come to Santa Teresa Park

2009-03-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

Santa Teresa trails are open again after one full month of closure since February 6th due to wet weather. Spring has come to the park meanwhile. California golden poppies blossomed along the Stile Ranch trail.

Many people don't realize the golden poppy is the state flower of California. I didn't either after having driven by the sign so many times at state border.

I wonder when was the last time that I rode this trail on a weekday after work and watched grassy knolls in last minutes of evening sunshine. Welcome back daylight saving time.

Henry Coe State Park

2009-03-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Henry Coe State Park covers simply a vast area that cannot be covered in a day or two either by bike or hike. This park has only one entrance on the Morgan Hill side. The other entrance on the east side opens once in a year for only one weekend as an annual event.

Henry Coe is one of the bike friendly parks. During the rainy season most trails in other parks are closed for bikers and equestrians. Santa Teresa are Quicksilver parks are shut down since 2/6 for a full month. It is up to ranger's judgement when the trails will be reopen in those Santa Clara County parks. Henry Coe has a transparent standard for bike trail closure. The park brochure says that trail will be closed for 48 hours after more than half inch of rain fall.

The parking lot is located at high elevation at 2,600ft. The bike trail begins with a down hill all the way to the bottom of the China Hole at 1,130ft. This endless descend feels scary considering that you should climb back later every foot of elevation you slid down.

I don't know why this place is called China Hole. I didn't see a deep hole that could reach to China. I wonder if the hole in the stream was deep enough to hold water through the dry season. When I got there, there was a plenty of water to cross.

This is not me. I shot this picture.

It is cool to cross the stream on the bike just like a bike magazine worthy picture. The problem came 30 minutes later. I started feeling my chain behaving a little weird - gritty, clicky and noisy. Alas, the little hint of the lube left in my abused chain was completely washed away after the water crossing. When the water dried up the chain started get sucked at the chainring. No one of us carried the chain lube. This meant I couldn't go any further but to return to where we started. I would have to push the bike all the uphills back for at least 5 miles.

I fortunately met a group of bikers and one of them handed me a chain lube. I thanked him for saving my day.

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Dry and warm weather is back

2009-01-29T18:28:00.000-08:00

Dry and record tying warmth is back to the valley. The economy sinks along with millions of hearts that are driven out of jobs. Hope this weather is a good dose of anti-depressant for troubled souls in the Silicon Valley. January precipitation this year is less than half of what it used to be. Let's enjoy the weather for now. We'll get the rain another day.

No biycling this weekend

2009-01-24T17:52:00.000-08:00

Having been spoiled by a brief summer in the middle of January for two weeks it is tough to get acclimatized back to the seasonable rains and showers. All the dirt trails are closed for muddy conditions. I shouldn't complain for the rain since this winter has been too dry. Winter rains are good for people,vegetations and wildlife. Can't wait to see how much greener the knolls will get when I ride next weekend.

Welcome back America

2009-01-20T20:07:00.000-08:00

Welcome back, America. - Paul Krugman -

This was the first time I've ever seen that the cadidate I voted for inaugurates the presidency. What a mess he has to deal with from now on. I am glad I voted for the right one. Who could deal this mess better than he will do?

Almaden Quicksilver to El Sombroso

2009-01-18T16:07:00.000-08:00

El Somboroso along with Mt. Umunhum make western skyline of the Almaden valley. Besides Mt. Unumhum that is closed to public access, El Sombroso makes the highest accessible peak in the Sierra Azul. When rounded up, El Sombroso makes a 3,000 ft peak. My GPS receiver says 2,982 ft. Google earth says it to be 2,999 ft.

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El Sombroso makes the highest point of Woods trail that runs across Sierra Azul OSP(Open Space Preserve) from Hick Road to Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos. Compared to neighboring to Quicksilver county park, the Sierra Azul OSP is rarely visited. During the entire ride in the OSP on a perfect weather weekend, I only met one hiker and two mountain bike riders. Woods trail meanders confirmally to the shapes of ridges and gulches of the mountain. It crosses deep ravines some of which make water falls in rainy season. They can hold running water through dry summer. The trail has several ups and downs but no serious climb until 2 miles before El Somboroso where killer climbs begin. Had I swet too much during the climbs and got my elotrolyte balance off? I developed cramps in the left leg half a mile before the peak that made me climb on foot pushing up the bike in some steep sections.

A view of Mt. Umunhum at Woods trail near to El Sombroso

There is no monument at El Sombroso but this gigantic power grid tower

Bird and Fortune: Silly Money

2009-01-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

Recapturing the blog "Calculated Risk"

Part 1

Part 2

Saratoga gap to Horse shoe lake

2009-01-11T17:42:00.000-08:00

Saratoga gap is one of the most visited mountain bike trails in the south bay area. This is one of few single trails that are open to mountain bikers. This single track was intended for multiple use of hikers, horse riders and bikers but in reality there are plenty of bikers and only few runners or hikers who are often busy dodging bikes speeding to them. I am yet to see a single equestrian on this trail. I guess no one wants to drive up the Skyline blvd with horse trailer that may send the horses to throw up their last year's graze out of motion sickness.

The trail begins in a forest that is so dense that not a single ray of sun penetrates the floor. Riding in the darkness if shadows gives a feeling of remote pristine woods far out from the civilazations. Such feeling lasts only until you hear banging noise of motor cycles from the skyline blvd right next to your ears. Worse is that the motor cyclists tend to ride in a group sometimes large enough to hear them for hours (feels like) to pass by. Skyline blvd is a magnet for the motor cyclists as much as Saratoga gap is for mountain bikers. They mix at the parking lot at the junction of route 35 and 9 where mountain bikers flex their shocks and motor cyclists do their mufflers before getting on to the ride.

To take advantage of extra warm and sunny weather in this weekend, I wanted to go as far. Hunger stopped me at the horse shoe lake where I started tracking back the trail. This 3 hours ride was 18 miles on my handlebar odometer. The GPS tracking system reported 16 miles. The GPS reception is quite bad in the forests that many false data points were logged.

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Almaden Quicksilver Ride

2009-01-10T13:47:00.000-08:00

The weather was forecasted to turn gorgeous starting this weekend and it indeed did in the Saturday morning. For a bike ride in January who can wish for more when it is sunny with high 60 teperatures. The gusty wind of yesterday was tamed down to refreshing breeze. What a treat of the nature.

This is a 13.6miles ride through Almaden Quicksilver county park. It took little more than two hours including few stops for snack. I entered the park through the Mockingbird parking lot which is less poppular choice than the Hacienda entrace in New Almaden. Mockingbird side of the trail is yet a fireroad but the climb is quite steep and long enough to bust one's lungs. Once the trail gets on the ridge, the rest of the trail is gently graded wide track fireroad maintained (too well) by the park office. It may be too boring for mountain bikers equipped with thousand dollars worth of suspensions but it should benefit ankles of trail runners and horses. I saw a young couple with little children, younger one in a stoller pushed up the trail by his father. The park office should be credited for making the trail for use of everyone.

Almaden quicksilver park is perfect fit for non technical uphill excercise. It also offers scenic view of sierra azul (Blue mountains), almaden valley, dense forrest and open grassy knols.

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Santa Teresa ride

2008-12-31T17:08:00.000-08:00

I logged my bike ride with a Mio C310x GPS system which was designed to be Windows CE based GPS navigator for autos. When a GPS navigators took fortunes to buy, it was the most affordable one sold at bargain price. With a little bit of hack, it can be modified to generate a downloadable GPX format tracklog file. I went out for a ride with this device to see how well does the device capture the coordinates. The ride was about 11.7 miles and it took approximately an hour and 40 minutes. The log tells my average speed was 7 mph. Few sections still remain muddy and slippery after the rain storm last week. I had to push the bike time to time.

Here is the trace of the ride projected on google map. The device was set to log coordinates every second. There are few spots that the GPS receiver captured coordinates with jitters larger than 10 feets. The resolution of the the receiver is good enough to resolve the side of the trail or road I was on. Amazing that we can abtain the location information with this much accuracy by resolving propagation delays from the satelites orbiting at 20,000km above the ground each moving at speed of 14,000km/h. Condidering the speed of light, one nano second of signal delay is equivalent to 1 foot of spatial distance. The modern day GPS system promises resolution of 3m (10ft). 10ns resolution in time is not very impressive for a semiconductor integrated circuit but big chunk of the error comes from other sources such as varying refractive index of earth ionosphere.

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Accent

2008-12-19T14:35:00.000-08:00

As a native speaker of Korean, I can tell which part of the country my compatriot conversing partner went to high school. Why not elementary or middle school but high? I guess high school ages are the window that one's accent freezes for the rest of the life. It is not a problem for the most of people who live in the same town or country they went to high school. Unfortunates are those who have to use the new language that they picked up later in their life and to use it everyday but with the same old accent they attained at the high school.

Here is one hilarious video that cracked me up. This guy says exactly what I wanted to say. I know how exactly it sounds and we don't need you to tell ...

There is another Korean on the other end. He happened to be raised in Tennessee during this critical age. I guess for his time he was the only Asian kid within 100 miles radius.

How bikes stay upright?

2008-12-14T18:34:00.001-08:00

I learned in my elementary school that a running bike stays upright in the same way a spinning top does. Spinning top stays upright even when the balance is disturbed. The gyroscopic precession motion would straighten up the the axis of the top.

If bicycle works by the same principle a spinning top works, why should I have to spent one whole day in my childhood to learn bike ride to my bruised knees and palms? All I needed to do was sitting tight on the saddle, holding the handle bar straight and tight and just pedal to spin the wheels. The invisible force of precession motion would stay with me and straighten me up whenever my bike would fall off. I should have ridden the bike at the first attempt without a single scratch on my knee. Why would a kid's bike need training wheels?

This extraordinary bike was designed to see if a bike is not rideable without the gyroscopic precession motion. Each wheel has its counterpart that rotates at exactly same speed but the opposite direction. When this bike falls to one side, the torque that would help recovering the upright position of the bike would be canceled out by exactly same amount of torque but acting in the opposite direction.

Was this bike rideable? The short answer is yes. More stories about this bike is found here along with other interesting experiments with bikes. This zero-gyroscopic bike demonstrates that the gyroscopic motion doesn't have much to do with rideability of a bike except that the no-hand ride is not possible when the gyro effect is absent.

Here is another demonstration. This scooter is a miniature isomorph of a bike except that the wheels are much smaller and lighter than those of a bike. The contribution of the gyro effect must be very small compared to that of a bicycle. However the fluency of the ride doesn't seem to be compromised.

This is another variation of two wheeled vehicle. In this version, the steering handle bar is removed. The fixed axis wheels were replaced with wobbling caster wheels.

Here is another ultimate example of a ride. There is absolutely no rotating wheel involved in this example. She is staying upright on a single blade that slides on ice. She would steer herself to whatever direction she wants in the ultimate grace.

What is common in all these rides is the arc motion that creates centrifugal force to counter the gravity that causes the rider to fall. Just like learners of ski, skate, skate board, snow board or surf board, a bike rider learns how to steer the vehicle to maintain the balance.

Gyro motion of the wheel still makes contribution to bike ride. No-hand ride is possible because of the gyro motion of the front wheel. Here is a bike in motion with front wheel that has exaggerated moment of inertia. Enhanced stability is clearly observable with increased gyro effects of the front wheel.

Blackhole

2008-12-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

If we are living in a simulated universe, one may find a glitch like this.

Your mind can be seen on a computer screen

2008-12-13T07:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/national/news/CK2008121102000053.html

Japanese scientists succeeded visualizing image that is being processed in person's mind. If one can directly extract information out from the brain, it will be eventually possible to inject fabricated sensory signals into the brain and manipulate individual's experience? Well this was the core technology that made stories in the movie Matrix possible.

Yet, this brain science work was not related to retrieving electrical nerve signals directly from the brain. The team examined spatial distribution blood flow in the brain using fMRI and translated the data to reconstruct the image that the subject was experiencing. There are still many more steps to go to make Matrix simulation possible.

After the movie Matrix was made in 1999, a philosophy professor at Oxford university published a paper "Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?"

Almaden Quicksilver

2008-12-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

Almaden Quicksilver is an old mercury mine in south San Jose that was converted to a county park. This park offers over 4,000 acres of rugged terrain including hills, ridges, canyons and valleys. It has well developed network of crisscrossing fire roads that once were mining routes for trucks carrying mercury ore or cinnabar.

The network of trails are now used by hikers, trail runners, equestrians and mountain bikers. A full loop from Almaden mockingbird hill makes fifteen miles of ride with over 1,000 ft of elevation gain. Some hills are aerobically challenging but no technical difficulties except some necessary evasive maneuvers from fresh horse droppings.

A ruin of mercury processing plant. The ore would be crushed and heated in a furnace to extract the mercury vapor. The vapor would be conducted through the condensation tubes where liquid mercury would be collected.

A skeleton of an old gas pump that might have fed gas to the vehicles in the mercury mine.

Mt. Umunhum /Uh-Muh-Num/ is seen in the backdrop. The peak of this mountain can be seen most of the south bay area with the unique box like concrete structure on the top. It was a part of airforce facility that is now abandoned. The peak area of the mountain is still closed from public access. A close up picture of this structure can be seen in this slide show.

At the peak of dry summer a deer braved to come down to nibble next to the busy parking lot.

Santa Teresa Park

2008-12-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

Santa Teresa Park is located on the hills dividing Santa Teresa and Almaden valley. This park offers nice single and double track trails for bike riders, trail runners, hikers and horse riders. Easy access from residential areas in Almaden and Santa Teresa valley makes this place popular to after-work bikers in summer days.

Stile ranch trail is a single track switchback stretched across rocky hills. This trail offers lots of fun to ride as along with physical and technical challenges. A steep and rocky climbing starting from the Fortini road parking lot is followed by a relatively gentle descend in the large Z-shaped switchback.

Another single track in the park is rocky ridge trail. Most part of the trail of gently sloped but there are couple of sections that offer challenges of navigating trough scattered rocks and boulders.Coyote peak provides simultaneous views of Santa Teresa and Almaden valley. If you are tired of climbs on rocky and bumpy trail, you can choose hidden spring trail for a smooth descent to Pueblo picnic area located in the center of the park.