Forward, the Light Broom Brigade!

Alley Cat Bike Ride, this Sunday afternoon, 3pm.
Pass it on!

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All across the bridge of Death
Rode the street sweepers.
'Forward, the Light Broom Brigade!
Charge for the glass!’ he said:
Across the bridge of Death
Rode the street sweepers.
(with apologies to Alfred Lord Tennyson)

This Just In: Condos at Ipswich...

I've got a big old can of I-told-you-so to open up...The City of Chesapeake is reviewing plans for "Southern Ridge," a 216-unit condominium development on 18 acres of land that abuts Indian River Park.

For the better part of two decades local citizens have developed bike trails and dirt jumps on this parcel of land. It's a shame that it wasn't incorporated into Indian River Park from the start.

So here's the $64,000 question: what's that land worth, and what's it gonna take for cyclists in Southside Hampton Roads to preserve the only singletrack park left?

First Blog of the New Year

I've been struggling to blog efficiently with my new Palm Pre- thumb-typing through a mobile-unfriendly website isn't the most productive or rewarding use of my time. (Hyperlinks are a horror.) And I haven't carved out a new time to sit with a laptop or desktop to type & blog.

I have, however, become a satisfied user of FaceBook Mobile: I can shoot a picture on my Palm Pre smartphone, email it to FaceBook, and it's automatically posted to my mobile upload album. I no longer have to download pix from a camera, process them through Lightroom, export, upload & publish them. My FaceBook Mobile Upload album has become a photo journal.

I've been subscribing to the Photojojo for at least a year now, inspired by new techniques & equipment. In no small measure, Photojojo has fueled my love affair with the LensBaby. So I was stoked when I received the latest email newsletter with a link to my favorite philosopher of photographer, Roland Barthes:

" A photograph is always invisible, it is not it that we see."


You're not looking at the pixels or silver crystals or toner dots.
You contemplate the message, not the messenger.
We watch what's on TV, not the television set itself.

Solstice Sunride: Come On Down!

If at first you don't succeed...try something different...

I want to submit an entry to the 2010 Bicycle Film Festival (my 2008 entry wasn't selected...c'est la vie). I've wanted to "observe" the Winter Solstice for some time now. And, I'm fascinated with Norfolk's emerging bike culture. So I mashed up all three and present...

Solstice Sunride:
A Cycling Community Documentary & Happening

On Winter Solstice, next Monday, December 21st, I will be shooting a film at Norfolk's Plum Point Park, on the Elizabeth River Trail in West Ghent, overlooking the riverscape. I will be setting up at least one timelapse camera to record the sunrise, transit & sunset on the shortest day of the year. And, I will also be making portraits and recording interviews with Norfolk cyclists during daylight at Plum Point Park.

So ride out before work, after school, or during your lunch hour. Pose for a picture, sip a warm cup of freshly mulled cider, watch the sun slip across the sky, and answer the question,

"Why do you ride?"

If you'd like to reserve a time between 7:15am and 4:45pm, drop me a note: friendwes_at_mac.com.

Now here's the really fun part...at 5:20pm we'll get on our bikes & ride from Plum Point Park: I'll be leading a mystery ride on a spontaneous route to an undisclosed location. Riders will be invited to participate in traditional solstice celebrations, including a yule log & warm grog.

Ipswich after the Nor'Easter: It Could be Worse...

As soon as the power came on & I was able to start up the sump pump, I headed out to Ipswich on Saturday to see what kind of storm damage there was...truth be told, it could've been a lot worse! There are more pix in my photobucket album.

I didn't ride every single trail- in fact I never made it across the power lines to the south side: I mostly stayed in the older-growth section on the north side. But after Hurricane Isabel Ipswich was much more torn up. There were a fair number of downed trees, but nothing too bad: I only found one large (12"+ trunk diameter) Swamp Maple that was blocking a significant length of the "Orange X" trail east of the Rokeby/Main trail head, and I was able to get that out of the way with about an hour of work. I added a couple of logs to the trail for a little variety.

There's also a fairly tall pine tree that's fallen across "Blunt Corner" (the clearing at the Rokeby/Main trailhead that's often littered with Philly blunt wrappers). I only brought hand tools, so I just left it where it was.

I also got some "traffic direction" work done. If I did my job right, the main trails will flow more smoothly, and no one will notice what's missing...

And for the record, the plywood shack southeast of Blunt Corner was built by stoners, not a homeless guy...

EVMA is moving forward on becomes an official sponsor of Indian River Park (the official name of "Ipswich"), and we're looking to have a park clean up on Saturday, January 9. More details will be forthcoming. The City is receptive to EVMA taking on more of the maintenance at Ipswich, and has even offered to provide supplies- who knows? maybe we'll get a ton of gravel!

On the way out to the car this afternoon, I met up with Tristan & Greg, who were about to take a ride and see what needed to be done. Thanks, guys, for coming out! I think I also saw Kev's Audiwagon, too...

While I was out there, I laid out some pink survey tape to mark where the bermed turns could use some attention: I'd love to see some 2 or 3 foot berms on the "Orange X" trail south of the Rokeby/Main trailhead. There's the potential for some really nice S curves!

Not so New, but still Improved!

Based on feedback from riders and my own observations of the changing road conditions, I've updated my "Bike Friendly Norfolk" map.

I'm happy to report that most of the changes have been for the better: anecdotally, there are more cyclists out there. More cyclists make for safer roads, as a "critical mass" is established. Colley Avenue, in particular, feels more bike-friendly than it did two years ago, when I first published my map.

East Little Creek Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard have also been renovated: the service roads are now gone from East Little Creek, replaced by a 12-foot wide shoulder that is a bike lane in all but name. I'm looking forward to the roadwork being finished on The Boulevard, bringing it to a similar condition.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions or comments, and feel free to distribute!

Monday Night "Urban Assault" Ride

Even though, or maybe because, I started the Monday night ride with Liz some seven years ago (yep, Liz, it's been that long), I've gotten kinda bored with it...The route hasn't changed that much, and chasing after a bunch of übermensch while dragging along a baby trailer gets old after a while...It's been more fun to head out to Ipswich & do trail work.

We tried a different route last night, heading up Granby Street & out to the end of Willoughby Spit. On the way back I rode a lap of the cross-country course at Northside Park. Thirteen crazy folk showed up, mostly on 'cross bikes, and it was definitely an A Pace ride- 19mph+ for most of the way.

Thanks, Robert, Liz & Mike, for suggesting a fun, new route. I never thought I'd see the day when Liz Schleeper would lead a group ride down Tidewater Drive!!!