Hobbies other than cycling.!

[Danneaux]

Terrific website, John, and well worth a look.  I particularly enjoyed the animal stories and seeing your Thorn by the waterfall.

Pics on the gallery, please!  

Best,

Dan.

[stormdog]

Hi Dan,

Thanks, I have only had the Thorn for a short time and have only done about 200miles on it but what a great bike!!!!!

If the weather is better than the forecast this weekend (high winds and heavy rain) hope to get out on it and will take some pics.

Will pm you tomorrow evening

kind regards

John

[Andybg]

Like some others on here I do do some running. Especially this time of year when the roads are icy and the air temp is well into the minus figures.

I dont want to disagree with those on here advising expensive footwear for running but I am in the camp that the better the footwear you wear the more the percieved cushioning you get and the heavier you run and the more damage you do.

Last year (2010) I read a very good book - born to run which is an excellent read whether you run or not and has some interesting information on the subject.

Apart from the cycling and the running I spend a lot of my time on DIY. I semi retired about 5 years ago at the rip old age of 33 and bought an old school that I am rebuilding which has been a massive task.

The rest of my leisure time is shared among reading (books), watching films ( i am a big fan of dvd's both in terms of films and especially serieses) and looking after my animals. I have 4 dogs and run a adhoc cat rescue. It is very busy this time of year and currently have 43 cats.


That is all about I have time for

Regards

Andy

[Danneaux]

Andy,

A bit OT, but this is a Muppets thread, so...

I wish you could help me with my neighbors' hobby.  The one next door has a rotating stock of 19 cats, and one kitty-corner (sorry) from my backyard has a collection of about half that.

I dearly love cats, and my closest pal for 16 wonderful years was RKitty, but this is too much, seeing as how I am midway between and currently catless.  The owner of the 19 can't seem to identify the genders, and swears all the multi-colored ones are males, but that doesn't seem to prevent them getting pregnant!  Sadly, being in the middle-ground, so to speak, I am a bit overrun and talking has done no good.  Their home looks like an episode of _Animal Hoarders_ and by all indications a fresh batch of kittens is on the way.  The birds I had formerly enjoyed with such delight are now gone (except the Anna's hummingbirds; they're feisty and swift enough to so far evade death) and the red squirrels are having a tough time of it.  The car is muddied and scratched, and I have had to erect orange construction fencing around the place where I pitch and test my tent lest I suffer a repeat of last summer's uh, cat "decoration" of the flysheet.  

So far, I've spent close to $200 on various natural repellents, including fox urine, all to no avail, and I won't consider options that could harm or hurt them.  The only thing with a glimmer of effectiveness has been the ultrasonic wave-emitter that has reduced use of the front garden as a toilet and the car as playground equipment.  Unfortunately, the region where I live is so economically depressed, no effort by the local SPCA or other groups is financially possible.  A roundup and neutering of the more feral examples by volunteer veterinarians took place a couple years ago, but the group's philosophy was to return the cats to their "home" for business as usual, sans breeding.  The kitties appear unhappy and unwell due to extremely close-crowding at their "home".

Any ideas for a reasonable solution?

Hopefully!

Dan.

[Andybg]

Dan

Not an easy solution. Fortunatly we are in the middle of nowhere so do not have any issues with neighbours.

There are no hard and fast rules about the colour of cats and their sex. The only one I know of is that most (but not all) ginger cats are toms.

Adult male cats are easy to tell as they do display there tackle. When young they are difficult to tell but possible with practice.

We neuter all our cats and find that the most important thing to do is neuter the females as other males from the area can be a problem otherwise.

There are places that will neuter for free for low income or needy families which may be a minor soultion for your neighbour?

The other thing worth noting is that it is much easier to tempt the cats somewhere than to stop them going elsewhere.

Cats love to go to the toilet in either loose soil or sand. If your neighbour is mot prepared to have a sand pit consider having one yourself in an out of the place area. Just dig a hole and half fill with sand - top up as required and then dig another hole.

The other consideration is talk to your neighbours and find out why they have so many cats? Maybe they would welcome some help rehoming some of them - with your it skills. Or maybe if you offer you can help to make their garden more homely for the cats rather than them straying ito yours.

Not an easy solution but worth trying

Andy

[Danneaux]

Thanks so much, Andy...

You've offered some brilliant solutions, and I think at least several are definitely worth a try.  Your expertise really shows through in some "out-of-box" thinking that hadn't occurred to me and has real potential for solving the problems to the satisfaction of all -- including those poor little kitties that frankly don't seem too happy.  Truth-tell, I'm having to overcome the impulse to adopt the "extras" myself but can't 'cos I feel one really must make a lifelong commitment to an animal and I cannot do that properly with travel on the horizon.  It's hard when I've rescued and placed in loving homes myself so many strays in the past; plus, all the kittens and many of the cats have had Cute Lessons; it's easier with the feral ones that growl and hiss on sight.

Grateful,

Dan.

[Andybg]

Dan

Best of luck with the cats. Where and when is the travel planned? Is this a cycling adventure in the planning?

Andy

[Danneaux]

Hi Andy,

A Cycling Adventure is definitely in the works.  I usually spend 3-4 months planning my longer solo tours, so I'm right  on-schedule for the Spring season, aiming toward a mid-June departure.   I'm half-scared to mention plans or the Weather Imps will hear and cause me grief.  Last year was so frustrating, as I spent the summer all dressed up with no place to go, thanks to some really unusual weather-related problems throughout my planned route (heavy snowfall that closed passes, then high temperatures caused a quick-melt that resulted in flooding closures).

I used the downtime productively to order-up and equip a Sherpa.  

This year, I have two possibilities so there will be a failsafe.  The choice is between doing last year's aborted trip (Great Basin incl. Oregon-Idaho-Utah-Nevada-California with mods, if needed) and something different (all in Oregon's remote regions).  The new trip would be a mix of mountain ranges and passes (Cascade, Ochoco, Wallowa and Steens here in Oregon) and some desert (an Alvord crossing, rather than Black Rock as in 2010).  

We'll see how it goes.  So far, the predicted heavy December-January snowfalls are largely absent.  The ODOT webcam pic below shows my favorite Cascade riding pass, Tombstone, with just a light snowfall when usual for this time would be halfway up the plow markers.  It is 0C here as I write this, but my crocuses are budding, the sap was way up in the crabapple tree when I trimmed the runners yesterday, and the neighbor kitties are a-courting (more on the way; Yaaah! ).  Should hit 10C after the fog burns off.  Crazy; it's like spring out there, though the temps have been dipping into -5C or so on some nights.  We may get lots of snow in February-March and that will determine my route later.  Shoulder-season tours in the mountainous American West can be unpredictable.  I can make it through snow a couple inches deep if it's fresh powder or packed hard, but if wet or deeper, much beyond that bogs me down and takes away some of the fun.

This will be the first big tour with the Sherpa, and I plan to take some short shakedown runs in Oregon's Coast Range to make sure the new bike and assorted gear works as expected, particularly the battery-charging system.

Fingers crossed in hopefulness,

Dan.

[Andybg]

It is amazing how much of a problem the weather can be. We have a dramatic climit here too in Bulgaria with the range between +40C in the summer and -40C in the winter with up to a couple meters of snow. The temerature usually jumps from - to plus 15 to 20 over night so quick snow melt and flooding is a real danger here.

The tour sounds fantastic and I am sure the sherpa will be a faithfull friend. Up untill last year I was a strong racing bike devote and it has only been the last year I have given up the skinny tyres and sub 6kg bikes for something more robust.

I managed a couple of short tours on a Kona dew and although a very good bike for the money I found it dead and uninspiring.

Not sure what touring I will get into in the coming year but certainly will get some miles under the wheels.

Best of luck on the weather and planning - I think you need a dedicated post - keep us informed

[jags]

great pic Dan looks like ireland last winter hopefully we wont get that weather again .nothing moved for two months

[Fred A-M]

Photography, which has overtaken cycling for the meantime, though I aim to amalgamate the two ultimately!

Photoblog here, which includes various cycle-tour shots of yesteryear!

http://fred.shutterchance.com/archive/theme/1-all-themes/

[Danneaux]

Fred,

Your shots are just outstanding, and I found myself returning several times today because I enjoyed them so much.  They're all so well done, but some of what appear to be HDR shots are just magnificent -- they transcend reality.

For anyone wondering if the link is worth it, I give a hearty "Yes; go visit Fred's photos soonest!" as an endorsement.  Well done, Fred!

Thanks for sharing!

Best,

Dan.

[jags]

i agree dan photos are excellent well done fred love the cemetry picture creepy.

[Fred A-M]

Cheers Dan & Jags, very kind & much appreciated and as surreal as it seems to be saying it to someone who's posted 291 times, welcome to the forum Dan - that's some serious enthusiasm you have there!    Jags, you must be close to being the most senior member now!

PS - For general viewing, the link below will always go to the latest photo - just click on the photo itself and it will go through to the previous blog entry in sequential date order. I update roughly every other day....

http://fred.shutterchance.com/

[jags]

hi Fred yeah i top the list in a few forums right enough  guess I'm just a nosey bugger
well done on the photos though you have a great eye and a lot of talent ,i always take my wee camera whenever i'm on the sherpa but i'm totally useless at taking pic's  ;Danyway each to there own.