Riding in the high country

Off the peak-to-peak highway, South St Vrain trail, Colorado.

One of the most technical trails on the front range.



But amazing beauty: the columbine



Aspen


Lushness

I gotta rave about Noiseware software

Yep, noise reduction software for photos..

Judge for yourself

Before


After

Birthday Tattoo

I finally did it. On my 40th birthday, I got a wild hair, and the desire to get a tattoo. It felt impulsive so I stopped myself. A year later, after dwelling on it, I went ahead and did it--at age 41. The theme should be obvious.



My friend Kim did one with me...


Kim and I really like them.

Turning 41 with joy

Tuesday I turn 41. Forty was the hard year, accepting that you can't say you are in your thirties anymore. But it feels good.

So here to celebrate with great friends is this...

Yeti gets knee Surgery

Our Husky, Yeti, tore her cranial cruciate ligament (like a humans Anterior cruciate ligament or ACL). Interestingly, unlike humans who really don't use the ligament unless the joint is overextended, a dogs ligament is used full time to keep the femur from slipping backward on the tibia plateau. Thus, repairing the ligament is almost futile since it will likely tear again.



There is a proceedure that seems kinda radical called Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy or TPLO. In this proceedure the tibia is cut and rotated so that the femur sets level and doesn't need the ligament. It's an interesting proceedure and requires a long recovery time but the dog is suppose to be able to walk and run normally afterward.

Boulder Kinetics 2006

After a wet couple of days, the weather was perfect for the Kinetics race. I got there in time to see Los Lobos and they were outstanding.

More about Lidar

Lidar works on the principle that if we send out a short pulse of light, we can look at the scattering of this light (using a telescope) as it propagates away from the transmitter. Since we know the speed of light is 300 million meters per second, we can tell in distance where the light is scattering from how long it takes to be collected by the telescope. Recall when a searchlight is scanning the sky how you can see the beam. Well in a lidar, the telescope is seeing a beam just as you see the searchlight.

The key components of a lidar are:

1. A short pulse laser source (pulses less that 1 microsecond).
2. A telescope to collect the return light.
3. Detectors to detect the light.
4. Fast analog-to-digital convertor to sample the detected signal.
5. A fast computer to process this signal.

Here is a Lidar recently built at NOAA. This is for measuring Ozone and operates in the Ultraviolet.



The white tube on the right is a the telescope and the laser is the small silver and black boxes just to the left of it. The large console on the far left with all the cables is te control.


Here is what the signal of a laser pulse looks like as it is received by the telescope.



And here is a special detector called a Photomultiplier tube or PMT. Photomultipliers are so sensitive they can detect individual photons. This type of detector is necessary due to the small amount of light returning from the atmosphere.

What is Lidar?

This....LIght Detection And Ranging.

All I need is this, and this, and this lamp...

This is my lamp...

Gotta Laugh at Boulder County

The Twin Lakes open space project is in full swing; paths and bridges are being built, and a wooden fence is being put up in certain areas.

One morning I saw the open space workers drilling holes with a powered auger. That evening when I was walking the dogs again, I noticed a couple utility company trucks in that spot working past the normal hours.

The next day, red flagging and markings appeared, on top of the area where the fencing was being put. It's pretty clear what happend here.



You would think of all people and organizations, the county would be the first to "call before you dig." It was a promotion a few years ago paid for by the county. Go figure.

Ride Pic

Some shadows and texture...

New Ellsworth Chainstay

Received and installed a new version of Ellsworth's asymmetrical chainstay. The previous stay had mimimal clearance on my Id, this one is a refined version with 5 mm more gap.

Previous stay clearance:


What it looked like when I removed it:


New stay:



Installed:


Ready to ride:

Access Denied?

Article in todays Daily Camera (Get Out section) on Bush's proposal to sell forest land for funding of rural schools.

http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/get_out/article/0,1713,BDC_8836_4559689,00.html

It features a one of my photos of the area.

Twin Lakes Open Space Fence

I'm not sure I get this or like this, but it's happening.

Twin lakes open space is being fenced off by the county now and interestingly, the fence of the west lake is on the opposite side of the trail from what one might expect. This lake will allow dogs to be off leash and perhaps it defines a barrier to keep the dogs out of the marsh section. Personally this bothers me because it isolates us from the lake but it's in motion and all I can do is watch at this point.

Warm Weather:Time to ride

Unfortunately, I have been ill with a Peritonsillar Abscess, and unable to get on the bike. If you have ever had one, I'm so sorry for you! It has been the worst suffering thing healthwise that I have ever had--and that includes a kidney laceration. Soon though I will return--my sanity can handle only so much of being cooped up.

The ugliness of a Peritonsillar Abscess (note the extreme swelling of the throat)

Snow In Boulder

Urban Anatomy

The veins of life of a building.

Lenticular Clouds

Late Winter clouds on the front range are spectacular. Thie was taken looking over the flatirons midday in Boulder.

"Liquid Desire"

My baby Spoiled Whiner, Nala Bear