Batavus Old Dutch: Not What I Expected

If you follow the Suburban Bike Mamablog, you may recognise that this is the fabled silver Batavus Old Dutch that has been the subject of some frenzied discussion due to its fabulous sale price. Vee didn't buy the bike because the frame was too large for her, so being in the neighborhood I hurried to see it. The price was so good that I was considering getting it as a winter bike and sparing my main ride from Boston's salt and snow. Heading to see the Batavus, I was pretty much prepared to take it home. But alas, I left empty-handed.



On fist impression the bike looked nice enough (though for some reason the shop fitted it with this strange basket). The bicycle is all silver, including fenders, chaincase and dress-guard.I like silver bikes and the loop-frame looked classic and elegant.



But a closer examination gave me a different perspective.Theframe is partly welded (as opposed to lugged), and the welds are kind of messy. Unicrown fork, too.



Seat tube.



And the "loop" connector. Now, some may be reading this and thinking "So what? Most modern bicycles are welded." True enough. But from a classic Dutch bike that advertises the "old" aspect of Dutch bikes, I would expect a more traditional frame construction.



But while the frame construction was disappointing, the more serious problem were the components. The front brake had almost zero stopping power - and that's riding around the flat parking lot in dry weather. We adjusted the brake and the bike shop even replaced the brake pads, but there was almost no improvement. Perhaps this had something to do with a combination of a low-end caliper brake and steel rims. Steel rims + caliper brakes = poor braking, especially in wet weather. The coaster brake did have decent stopping power, but was not especially strong either. Since I was thinking of getting this as a winter bike, that would rather defeat the purpose. Downhills might also be scary even in the best weather.



The closer I examined the Batavus Old Dutch, the more details I noticed that made it look cheaply made. The cable guides were plastic clip-ons that were starting to come off in places. The pedals and bell felt flimsy and loose. The chaincase was made of a vinyl cloth-like material apparently prone to yellowing and tearing (as it had both yellowed and torn... and this bike was a floor model that had never seen hard use).



I feel bad piling so much criticism onto this poor bike. I wanted to like it and fully expected to take it home. But the bike I saw did not make sense for me to buy, even at the sale price (which I think reflects its value more so than the retail). That said, the Batavus Old Dutch is sturdy and, from a distance, attractive. If bought at a discount, it could work nicely for someone who wants a Dutch bike for short urban trips and isn't bothered by the issues described here.

Thanks, Miriam!

Sunday, September 19th - - It was a delightful day that was spent with one of my favs – Miriam Midkiff of Ancestories :: The Stories of my Ancestors. Miriam has already written about our day but I just wanted to add that it was my pleasure to be able to spend some time with her - to get to know her a little better and to meet her son and husband. Her son, being a teenager, didn't have much to say but her husband and I had several engaging conversations while Miriam was off doing something else. The pot roast was delicious. It was very nice to have a home-cooked meal for a change!

Miriam Robbins Midkiff and Becky Wiseman. Photo taken September 19, .. by her husband.
Even though I knew that Miriam and I probably wouldn't get together until Sunday, I arrived in Spokane about mid-day Friday. I had decided that this would be a good opportunity to have a couple of “down” days. I had to tend to some errands – get the oil changed in the van, laundry, grocery shopping – you know, things that “normal” people do on a regular basis ;-)

I also took advantage of having electricity at the RV park to work on the photos from August on the netbook. I don't normally stay at commercial RV parks (or resorts, as this one was called) because they usually resemble parking lots. But for some reason the state of Washington closed the campgrounds in some of its State Parks in mid-September so I had no alternative. This particular RV resort was actually kind of nice. There were some trees and bushes in between each parking space, which provided some degree of privacy. A rarity in an RV park! They also had wifi available but I kept getting kicked off the network after about 15 minutes online. Luckily there was a McDonalds across the street...and their wifi worked great.

My stop-over in Spokane was a nice break in my journey. Several tasks were accomplished and I got to spend some time with a friend. Thank you, Miriam! And I look forward to our next visit, someday!

Fashion Friday - It's a pants off!

The last week sawprobably the most exceptional pants wearingThe Cave has ever seen.









Frey Yulepulled off a stunning hibiscus board pant in bluewith a simple lemon chalk bag by Black Diamond and a translucent green denture brush.

jjobrienclimbing votes this look: Flawless





















Matt Walpole went all out Acid with awildPsy-Macaw Board Pant,

Dippers chalk bag in Acid Fluff with a deep pink plush lining (Aussie made too, that's nice)

framed in a Wild Country Syncro (way too many gear loops for practical sport climbing, but the added colour and structure works super, don't you think?)













Remember jjobrienclimbing says:Fashion iswhat separates climbers from monkeys.

Several Different Horses

I tried to get little horses in a verity of different colors, poses, breeds.

Fire in the woods

British Soldiers (Cladonia cristatella), my favorite lichen.



Two very small salamanders. Either Southern Red-backed (Plethodon serratus), Southern Zigzag (Plethodon ventralis), or Webster’s (Plethodon websteri).

According to Salamanders in Alabama, they're "easily confused".



These tiny... things... were growing on a limb rotting on the ground. I can't even tell if they are a type of mushroom, slime mold, lichen, or what. Possibly an immature version of Peniophora rufa...?

The whole line there was about the width of a blade of grass. I could definitely use a macro lens. And of course that portable DNA analyzer that they are being so slow to invent.



An easy one, finally: Truckus plasticus.

And there's always this:

The muscovy duck who thinks he's my boyfriend.



He follows me into the woods, if I'm moving slowly enough.

I'll be hunkered down, minding my own business, trying to take a photo of something low to the ground, when I hear a coarse hissing from behind.

That's my cue to stand up fast, unless I'm in the mood to be nibbled, stabbed, and pinched by a duck.

I'm not sure how he carries bread crumbs, but he's always there waiting when we get back home.

RTC(W) Company 70-14 Graduation

In the picture at left, that's me carrying the Stars and Stripes. At right is the company passing in review.
After graduation from Basic Training on January 23, 1970, I was sent to the Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia. In April 1971, I attended photographer's Mate "A" School in Pensacola, Florida and after that training was completed I returned to NTC Bainbridge! The base closing was announced in 1971 and I attended the last WAVES formal graduation on May 12th 1972, which was for company 28-72 . I thought it was sad that, according to the scanned article below, there were four additional companies that completed their training at Bainbridge but they apparently did not have a formal graduation ceremony. I can't imagine going through Basic Training without having some kind of ceremony to mark its completion.
The 1,000 acre Navy Training Center was located on the bluffs and rolling hills above the town of Port Deposit, Maryland (situated on the banks of the Susquehanna River where it enters the northern reaches of the Chesapeake Bay). It was officially closed on March 31, 1976 after 34 years of service. Opened in 1942 as a recruit training center for men, it became the home of the Naval Academy Prep School as well as the center for other specialized Navy training schools including, in 1948, the Recruit Training Command (Women).

The photographs in the above article are credited to PH3 Becky Wise. . . but it really was me that took them, I was the only Navy photographer on base at that time.

Ingalls Lake

If you are looking for some awesome scenery close to home, Ingalls Lake is the place to go. Dave, Dani, Wendy, Mark (and Doug) taking a break on the way up to Ingalls Pass.

We saw a lot of mountain goats on this trip.It was a warm day and people were cooling off in the lake.Mt. Stuart and Ingalls Lake. What a view!

Laurel Falls in Great Smoky Mountains NP

Today we headed to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We hiked the Laurel Falls Trail.

Laurel Falls is one of the most popular destinations in the park.

Laurel Branch and the 80-foot high Laurel Falls are named for mountain laurel, an evergreen shrub which blooms along the trail and near the falls in May

It appeared to me that the falls were not as abundant as they are sometimes, so I'm guessing the water levels must be low.

They were really beautiful! This is the upper falls.

Here you can see the upper falls and lower falls. The upper falls are in the far left corner.

The lower falls from below:

I didn't go down to the lower falls. Nathan and Aric did. They ended up having lots of excitement down there. I'll let Aric share it with you, which you can read on his blog here: Aric's Blog



If you go back and look at the first picture, it will give you a hint of what they got pretty close to down there.



Living the life in Tennessee.

Acadia :: Another visit to Schoodic Point

Monday, September 17th - - Today was moving day. We were traveling Down East out toward Cobscook Bay and Campobello Island. After a few stops in Ellsworth, and with plenty of time to spare, I decided to stop once again at Schoodic Point. I had checked the tide schedule at the campground and knew it would be high tide at Schoodic about the time I was passing by. Besides, it was yet another beautiful day!




























I had planned to stay for about 30 minutes but enjoyed the sunshine and waves for a full 90 minutes before moving on...

Nathan and Daryl in the Tournament

After watching these two play this last week, I knew that they would do well.

I would not have wanted to be playing against them.

They played tough, fierce games against the competition.

They ended up in the championship game. They won their bracket. Woohoo! WTG, guys!

Purple Wild Flower

This purple wildflower is blooming all over the desert. This one is right by my house. They are such a lushish shade of purple but if you look close you can see the hair-like stickers that they will have when they are through blooming. These will go right through cotton gardening gloves and are as bad as cactus stickers to remove for the glove or your skin.

Bush wack!

I still have scars on my shins from two of last summer's adventures.



My plan was to stay on the snow and my skis as long as possible this year with the amazing NW snow pack. Avoiding new scars was the thought.Then I saw this.Nice reminder. Make sure to dbl click the picture.













If you are intoREALadventure skiing..plenty of iton these twogreat blogs.



http://slcsherpa.blogspot.com/



http://slc-samurai.blogspot.com/



SLC? Who'd thought...the Chamonix of the USA? But with bush wacking. It is afterall an American tradition!







Dbl click..amazing pictures.All photo credits here to both the Sherpa and Samari blogs.

Assateague Island :: Sunrise

One of the things I had promised myself that I would do while at Assateague was to get up early enough to watch the sunrise over the marsh. The first three mornings had already gone by and I hadn't gotten up in time but when Friday morning (October 23rd) rolled around, I awoke before the sun was over the horizon. The clouds in the sky were bathed in streaks of orange and pink. It turned out to be a spectacular sunrise. One of the best. Ever. Mother Nature outdid herself that morning.

7:00 a. m. Walking over to the marsh boardwalk.
It was cold. And Dark.
But I just knew it would be worth the effort.
That was an understatement.

7:07 a. m. From the middle of the boardwalk.

7:13 a. m. From the far side of the boardwalk.
Looking just a little to the south of the sun.
The sky and marsh were completely bathed in wonderful light.

7:18 a. m. From a distance, using the telephoto feature.
Looking directly into the rising sun. Magnificent.

7:22 a. m. From the same spot as the previous photo.
Longer telephoto setting.
The sun rising over the horizon.

7:24 a. m. The morning has risen.
Breathtakingly beautiful. Quiet. Tranquil.
All mine, and mine alone. Until now, when I share it with you.

7:32 a. m. My only companions were the birds.
A small flock of Snowy Egrets.