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Photography thread

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Thanks! Yeah, well there are sharks anywhere...just such low odds of an attack that no one thinks much about it. About 1000x more likely getting in a fatal car wreck driving to the beach. There are Great Whites about, especially in the areas where the sea lions feed and breed, mostly a bit north of Santa Cruz in Año Nuevo and the Farallons.

It's Pigeon Point lighthouse on the way north from Santa Cruz, on the San Mateo coast. https://goo.gl/maps/1fhh9Frb7LUfs1uH9
I thought since all the surfers were wearing wetsuits the water might be too cold for sharks, but then I don't know anything about surfing (or sharks), so don't mind me.

Here in Oregon the beaches are gorgeous, but the water is just too cold, so we don't even have to worry about swimming with sharks. About the most you can do is dip your feet into the ocean, and the ocean is nice to look at. Think I still have some piccys of it somewhere.
 
I thought since all the surfers were wearing wetsuits the water might be too cold for sharks, but then I don't know anything about surfing (or sharks), so don't mind me.

Here in Oregon the beaches are gorgeous, but the water is just too cold, so we don't even have to worry about swimming with sharks. About the most you can do is dip your feet into the ocean, and the ocean is nice to look at. Think I still have some piccys of it somewhere.
I've been surfing in Oregon any number of times. :) Mostly back when I lived in Seattle, we'd drive down to Seaside and surf the left point off Tillamook head as well as Short Sands beach south of there. It's a little colder than Santa Cruz but not as much as you'd think! Definitely sharks around there too, they don't mind the cold. But I can see where the people would! I grew up in Humboldt County, in far northern California, and the water's even colder there (local upwelling phenomenon, long story) so I know what it's like.
 
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I've been surfing in Oregon any number of times. :) Mostly back when I lived in Seattle, we'd drive down to Seaside and surf the left point off Tillamook head as well as Short Sands beach south of there. It's a little colder than Santa Cruz but not as much as you'd think! Definitely sharks around there too, they don't mind the cold. But I can see where the people would! I grew up in Humboldt County, in far northern California, and the water's even colder there (local upwelling phenomenon, long story) so I know what it's like.
I take it you were not bothering the sea lion caves while visiting here in Oregon ?
 
Florence is a cute little (touristy) town on the coast ideally located close to the dunes, Woahink Lake, Heceta Head lighthouse, and it has some decent restaurants. I'd usually go every summer for some kayaking on the lake and then flying a kite in the dunes, even in the summer I would bring a winter coat in case it got super windy and cold. Usually I did end up having to wear it, I kinda felt bad for the tourists who showed up in t-shirts and shorts because they didn't know our coast would get so frigid.

Anyhoo, I have no idea how (or even whether) coastal towns that depend on tourism had survived through this year, but I'm hoping the Firehouse restaurant will still be there when all this covid stuff is over with. Their garlic fries were truly the best. :)
 
So after chatting with red in this thread about the Oregon coast I was finally able to unearth some pictures of our coast, these are pics of the sand dunes near Florence. Look to the east and you see, well, hills and some kind of grass, and once you climb over the dunes and look to the west you see the actual ocean. It's a great place for flying a kite or going clamming, and if you're as brave as red you can try to swim or surf on the ocean. (Brrrrrr... I have never been that brave!)





And now I am eagerly awaiting Unchained's California pictures - you're getting on that, right, Unc?
 
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So after chatting with red in this thread about the Oregon coast I was finally able to unearth some pictures of our coast, these are pics of the sand dunes near Florence. Look to the east and you see, well, hills and some kind of grass, and once you climb over the dunes and look to the west you see the actual ocean. It's a great place for flying a kite or going clamming, and if you're as brave as red you can try to swim or surf on the ocean. (Brrrrrr... I have never been that brave!)





And now I am eagerly awaiting Unchained's California pictures - you're getting on that, right, Unc?
Nice pics! Isn't there a golf course near there somewhere, links style IIRC? I have a buddy who used to rave about it.
 
Nice pics! Isn't there a golf course near there somewhere, links style IIRC? I have a buddy who used to rave about it.
There is a links course in that area, but I've never been. I'm sure it's beautiful though, and it probably gets a bit gusty at times, as a links course should. (Some of those British Open courses look brutally windy.)

There's also a designated area in the dunes for dune buggy riding where people get to live out their Mad Max fantasy, I find them irritating because they get noisy. But at least they are being kept to that one area.

And there is a casino where people get to lose their money (I've never been), so there is a whole lot to do in Florence now that I think about it.
 
Santa Cruz today.

npqhAvi.jpeg
 
I find this bike very confusing, the first thing that caught my eye was the saddle. Is this what you usually ride on in this kind of terrain?

Otherwise the photo is glorious!
Thanks on the photo! What is the nature of your confusion on the saddle? It’s typical, yes. Is it the seat post? It’s a “dropper post”, which recedes into the frame via a lever on the handlebars to move the saddle out of the way on descents. Especially useful in steep terrain typical of Santa Cruz, but useful on any descent. One of the most important innovations in MTB over the last decade or so, a total game changer.
 
Thanks on the photo! What is the nature of your confusion on the saddle? It’s typical, yes. Is it the seat post? It’s a “dropper post”, which recedes into the frame via a lever on the handlebars to move the saddle out of the way on descents. Especially useful in steep terrain typical of Santa Cruz, but useful on any descent. One of the most important innovations in MTB over the last decade or so, a total game changer.
Don't mind me, I confuse easily and I know next to nothing about mountain bikes. I just thought the seat would be a little comfier looking, this one makes my butt hurt.
 
I can see how it looks that way. I’ve tried quite a few, this is my favorite so far. Quite comfortable actually: https://www.sq-lab.com/en/products/saddles/sqlab-saddle-611-ergowave.html
Judging by the manufacturer's description it sounds very promising, glad it's working out for you. I just have my one very favorite saddle that I install depending on which bike I ride, but that's because I'm cheap.

So, being I know nothing about MTBing how come the drivetrain on MTBs is reversed? (Small cog in the front, a selection of big ones in the back.) It just looks so odd to me, but that's because I don't understand the function.
 
Judging by the manufacturer's description it sounds very promising, glad it's working out for you. I just have my one very favorite saddle that I install depending on which bike I ride, but that's because I'm cheap.

So, being I know nothing about MTBing how come the drivetrain on MTBs is reversed? (Small cog in the front, a selection of big ones in the back.) It just looks so odd to me, but that's because I don't understand the function.
It's actually the saddle off my other bike, I swapped it because I plan to ride this one more. Really fits me, better than the stock one.

Yeah, good question on the gearing, seemed weird to me coming from the road as well. It's just a matter of what's needed. In mountain biking the trails are steep and the terrain is rough to very rough, one needs super low gear ratios to climb, nothing like road biking. The top gear is 30/11 on my bike, enough to pedal on a slight downhill. Nothing more really needed. The lowest is 30/52, a bail-out gear for the roughest technical climbs, which can be up to 20-25% in sections, and strewn with roots and rocks.

The smaller the cogs, the lighter the bike and all that. Single chainring means less chance of dropping the chain–it happened all the time with multi chainrings in rough terrain. This setup is 12 gears in total, with a single front cog, which is a pretty standard setup these days. Not sure you can even get a multi-chainring new bike anymore. It's all you need, and so much simpler in the cockpit not to have the front derailleur. That is replaced by the dropper post trigger.
 
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It's actually the saddle off my other bike, I swapped it because I plan to ride this one more. Really fits me, better than the stock one.

Yeah, good question on the gearing, seemed weird to me coming from the road as well. It's just a matter of what's needed. In mountain biking the trails are steep and the terrain is rough to very rough, one needs super low gear ratios to climb, nothing like road biking. The top gear is 30/11 on my bike, enough to pedal on a slight downhill. Nothing more really needed. The lowest is 30/52, a bail-out gear for the roughest technical climbs, which can be up to 20-25% in sections, and strewn with roots and rocks.

The smaller the cogs, the lighter the bike and all that. Single chainring means less chance of dropping the chain–it happened all the time with multi chainrings in rough terrain. This setup is 12 gears in total, with a single front cog, which is a pretty standard setup these days. Not sure you can even get a multi-chainring new bike anymore. It's all you need, and so much simpler in the cockpit not to have the front derailleur. That is replaced by the dropper post trigger.
Thanks for all the info, while I did derail your thread a bit from its original intent I still love to learn new stuff. Had to look up what a dropper post is, had never heard of it and think it's just amazing!

Mountain bikes are starting to make more sense to me, and I promise I will post a picture of something soon. We're having a very mild winter so far, so some flowers are starting to come up. So I will bore everyone with pictures of flowers.
 
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A while back I promised I would take some pictures as more flowers come up this spring, but most of them are kinda boring (the usual daffodils and tulips, that kind of stuff), so I won't bother. But this one is kind of exciting, it's an amaryllis I had planted for xmas several years ago. Most people just throw them out after they are done blossoming for the holidays, but if you hold on to them and take care of them they will blossom year after year, sometimes even twice a year.

This amaryllis isn't quite there yet, but it's fun watching it as the blossom opens up just a bit each day. Another few days and the blossom will be open in its full glory, so stay tuned!

 
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A while back I promised I would take some pictures as more flowers come up this spring, but most of them are kinda boring (the usual daffodils and tulips, that kind of stuff), so I won't bother. But this one is kind of exciting, it's an amaryllis I had planted for xmas several years ago. Most people just throw them out after they are done blossoming for the holidays, but if you hold on to them and take care of them they will blossom year after year, sometimes even twice a year.

This amaryllis isn't quite there yet, but it's fun watching it as the blossom opens up just a bit each day. Another few days and the blossom will be open in its full glory, so stay tuned!

Yeah... Nothing as exciting as waiting for the flowers to show themselves.