The Old leaf Under Yer Fender: A Natural Patience Tester

Riding in the Fall is the absolute best. One symptom of Autumn, of course, is falling leaves. I think just about everyone who rides a bike has had one such leaf sucked into some tight space (like under your fender) where it proceeds to make a high pitched rubbing noise. You know pretty much exactly where it is and what it is. You know it isn't doing any harm. You keep riding, hoping it will dislodge itself, knowing that every second it remains lessens the likelihood of it doing so.

Today's leaf was under my front fender, so I tried lifting my front wheel and smacking it back down a couple of times while I rode. No joy. I was running my video camera, so I was able to check after my ride; I lasted just over 4 minutes before I stopped and let the leaf fall out from under there.

pic from 2012

Mrs. Rantwick says I have a very annoying ability to block out and be unperturbed by abrasive sounds, like the seat belt dinger in the car or the dog barking at the TV. Indeed, on the very same ride as the leaf thing, a cell phone alarm that I had failed to dismiss properly started going off. I just let it. It went off over and over, in 3 predictable attempts. I didn't care. So what's the difference? An annoying sound is much less annoying when you know how long it will last. Uncertainty about how much longer you'll have to wait for relief makes all the difference, at least to me.

Anyway, back to the "leaf rub". What is your tolerance like? How long do you typically last before having to address the issue? In the end, I consider "leaf rub" a small price to pay for the glories of riding in Autumn, so bring it on, ya little bastards!

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

The King of Autumn, 2015

Hello there! I'm in a rush but wanted to touch base with the old blog, you know, so I'm just gonna pay homage to the King of Autumn now that that the leaves are mostly gone.

Here's the best shot I was able to get this year:

The King - October 23

What was interesting to me was that the outer leaves were that bright orange, but the inner ones were an awesome glowy yellow green...

I wondered how that would play out, but I didn't make it back before he was TOTALLY NAKED!

The King Is Shed! Long Live The King! - November 9

I'm hoping to have the time and energy to revive the Autumn Tree Smackdown next year. I'm thinking a nice flexible name that I can use over and over without worrying about a new acronym or numbering system would be good, like the "Sort Of Annual Rantwick Autumn Tree Smackdown", or SOARATS. I think that has a nice ring, even though for me it also brings to mind high-flying rats.

Rather than leaving you with that mental image, SnowFace and Mrs. Rantwick wanted to say hi, so here they are instead:

Well Hello There!

I am SO PLEASED that Mrs. Rantwick is the one with the buggy eyes...

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

The Slanting Rays of Autumn

Most regular cyclists I know wear sunglasses to both cut the glare and keep their eyeballs from drying out. I couldn't find mine this morning, so I wore the clear safety glasses I usually save for the dark of winter.

It was a good reminder of how completely blinded anyone without shades could be, sun visor or not.

 

It changed the way I rode a little; at one point I pulled over and waited for overtaking cars to clear before getting out there to take a left. Stuff like that. Lovin' the Fall weather though; made a bee line for the path, where shade prevails much of the time. It was great. I hope your Autumn rides are proving just as nice!

 

 

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Where Was Everybody?

This morning's ride into work was the first one in a while that I was able to extend a bit because miracle of miracles, I left with enough time. It was cool enough that I had to stop and put on my gloves, but just perfect in my opinion; it was one of those mornings when you think of people getting to work in their cars and wish they only knew how much nicer their mornings could be.

Consider two pictures from this morning's ride:

 

 

This?

Or this?

Easy decision, I think. Of course, even the second picture is more fun on the bike.

 

 

The thing is, in something like 7 km of riverside MUP, I didn't see one cyclist, not even any of my "regulars". Maybe everybody runs late like me. Maybe once shorts and T-shirt weather is gone, most put their bikes away. That would be a terrible shame because Fall is cycling prime time as far as I'm concerned. Enjoy it as much as you can before the snow flies! Then, if you're up for it, ride in the snow!

 

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Blissed Out in Spring and Autumn

As I mentioned yesterday, I had one of those memorable, soul-feeding Autumn rides on Monday. I have made a video similar to one I did in the Spring a couple of years ago, one that has become my most popular youtube video by far. In these days of youtube vids with millions of views, that isn't saying much since that one has been viewed just over 600 times, but that makes it #1 among mine.

I've skimmed the archives and don't think I ever posted that video here on the blog. If I did and missed it somehow, please let me know. Anyway, here's the "old" Spring video:

Now, Autumn blissed-out action from Monday Oct 24:

Perhaps this type of video is more popular because I'm not trying to be funny or anything. Who knows? In any case, I secretly hope that when you're sitting inside during a snowstorm in the long deep dark days of winter, jonesing for a bike ride in the fresh air, you'll come back to these videos for a dose of bike zen. Of course, that could just make things worse...

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

First Annual RANTWICK Autumn Tree Smackdown

Autumn, what I consider the best cycling season of all, is almost upon us. This post, however, isn't about cycling. Last year in October I did a post about a remarkable tree here in London Ontario that I dubbed "The King of Autumn". Some comments on that post prompted me to promise a competition next year. Well, next year is here, and with it the First Annual RANTWICK Autumn Tree Smackdown! I have no idea if The King will be as brilliant as last year, but I'm putting him up against all comers. He is not tipping his hand at all yet:


Please send me your pictures of Autumn trees giving us a show. I would prefer shots of one or just a few trees, since even The King can't reasonably defeat a whole mountainside of fall colour. That said, all pictures of fall foliage are welcome. Submissions will be accepted until Dec 15, 2010. I'll post the pictures here and then we can all vote on the winner over the Christmas season, with votes being collected until Jan 1, 2011. I haven't come up with a prize yet, but I can promise you it will be something of dubious value.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

The King of Autumn

It is October 30 as I write this. I think I'll probably post it on Monday November 2. On October 28, I stopped the bike and took some video of a tree that I have come to think of as "The King of Autumn". It is not an impressively large tree, but big enough, I guess. Situated near the middle of a small, out of the way park near Wellington Road, this thing had achieved an orange "glow" that I have never seen before and that kind of blew me away. I'm not a full-time nature junkie or tree hugger, but once in a while I'll see something that kind of feeds the spirit, if you will. This tree was one of those things. Despite a thick carpet of leaves beneath it, it still looked nice and full, right up to the top. When I got home, I plugged the camera into the computer and couldn't remember anything notable happening on the ride, so I just deleted all the files. I do this all the time. No big deal.


On October 29, I rode on streets only due to time demands. I still hadn't realized that I had deleted my King of Autumn video.


This morning as I cleared the camera's files once more, I remembered the King of Autumn, and resolved to ride by and take some pictures instead, because they would be more impressive than video. When I got to the tree, it didn't look anywhere near as good. The King had lost his Crown, and was thin-to-bare on all but the lowest branches. With so many leaves fallen, the glow was gone. I was really disappointed, thinking to myself, "damn, I really wanted to post on this. Ah well, maybe next year." I rode away kind of bummed out, without having taken any pictures. I thought about how quickly some beautiful things can pass: Blink, and you might miss 'em.


I stayed bummed out until I resolved to write this post describing what had happened, and to take pictures of the less impressive King anyway, which I did on the way home. I have heard that the colours achieved by trees in the fall can vary from year to year depending on what kind of summer it has been. If the King fails to achieve the same wondrous hue next year, I would have missed my one chance to share it with anybody, and that would suck worse than showing the tree in something less than its full glory. So here it is:

Try to imagine those low branch colours all over the whole tree, although it's a "you had to be there" thing, I'm afraid.

The King is Shed! Long Live the King!

R A N T W I C K

PS - I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on the King of Autumn next Fall in the hopes of catching it at its very best.

PPS - This post ended up spawning a big fat foliage contest. Click here for the 2010 FARATS posts!