“Very Interesting, but not funny”

Day 11 (6/21/10)

“Very Interesting, but not funny” the immortal words of Artie Johnson come to mind when describing this morning’s ride/walk. I had taken almost a week off after doing something to my back last Tuesday in the Weight Room. I had been doing curls when all of a sudden a sharp pain coursed through my lower back. It is getting better though so I headed out. Most things were still up but to my surprise “Tripod” was knocked over. Even though it is not the original, which was taken in the “Great Purging” by the railroad last summer, it had existed through the winter and spring. It is “interesting” that it was down shortly after I had made some modifications. Things didn’t get real “interesting” until I had made it to Oostburg. I had just turned around when I spotted a baby Bunny. I decided to stop and photograph it. As soon as I was about to leave I heard a loud hissing noise which turned out to be my tire going flat. There I was about five miles from home with a flat front tire. I started walking it and realized that at four mph it was still going to take over an hour to get home. I tried jogging but with a bike next to me that was very cumbersome. I didn’t want to ride the bike with the flat and ruin the rim but I also didn’t want to ruin my day walking the bike home. Finally, I decided to remove my pack from the back rack and sit on that. That took most of the weight off the front wheel. It probably looked goofy as hell but I was able to limp home a lot faster than walking. To be honest, whenever I met somebody coming down the trail I slipped off the backend and walked it. Did I mention my sore back? This position, folded over the seat, made that kind of “interesting”. But all in all improvising is what adventure is all about and although it wasn’t the most fun I ever had on a bike ride it was definitely one of the more “interesting”.

New Grotto Build

There is a bunny, Really!

Only flat on the Bottom.

Abbreviated

Day 10 (6/15/10)

Today’s ride was somewhat abbreviated. I had a lot of work to do at home and it was supposed to start raining. I rode out to make sure everything was still standing and it was. I did do one rebuild on a concrete build I had done earlier in the year. Tomorrow we hope to go kayaking so I probably won’t get out on the trials again until Thursday when I think I will go south.

Black and White

Day 9 (6/14/10)

It was great being back on the trail again. It is a little wet and the mosquitoes are intense but it beats going to work. I wanted to work on “Tripod” and give it back its badly missing dangler. I have few hard rules when building but I do like my dangle pods to hold one black and one white stone. I guess it’s sort of a yin yang thing. I am not sure I have the perfect rocks but they will do for now. I also decided to add an Inukshuk to my “Mast Build”. It survived having rocks poured around it and winter without going down so a little ornamentation is warranted. Across the road from it I built my first new build of the season. I may do more to it if it survives but for now I am pretty happy with it. I also did a little work to the original “Dangler”. It really only needed a little straightening after winter. It was a great day and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

A Dangler for Tripod

Day 8 (6/12/10)
Eileen and I went for a quick ride. It is Saturday so the trail is busy. We wanted to get out and enjoy my first day off from school for summer. Soon after getting on the trail we were startled by a little snake. When Eileen rode to close to the snake it jumped at her tire. It was funny because in spite of its size it made both us jump. I decided “Tripod Build” really needs to have its dangler replaced. I kept my eyes open for some wire or something that I could use to tie some stones under it. Further up the trail I came across some old wire that would do the trick. I tried to do some work on it but there was just too much traffic. I will have to save it for Monday. The wild roses are in full bloom and the trail is looking quite striking.

"Hippy Statues"

Day 7 (5/18/10)

I didn’t really go out on the trail today, but had a student who commented on my sculptures. She told me how when out bike riding with her dad she had seen my “Hippy Statues”. She didn’t mean anything mean-spirited by it but yet again I was surprised at how people perceive things. Why does one immediately make a connection between cairns and Hippies or Satanist? Why don’t people see it as art for art’s sake or just recreation? As always, I am just happy that they had opened a dialogue. I am hoping to show the student some of Andy Goldsworthy’s art. Whenever I look at his work I am impressed. Not only do I appreciate the amount of detail and complexity of his work but it just makes me smile. The whimsical character and relationship to the environment just seem to meld. I have included some images of my favorites.

Last Sunday we did go for a ride along the northern route. Since it was very busy we didn’t get a chance to do any building. Again, we were impressed by the building of others. It would appear that at least on a small scale I have started the ball rolling and with some continued prompting may get this to catch on. Maybe, I may even reach my original goal of one hundred sculptures standing. Unlike Goldsworthy’s, which is a very personal thing, I am trying to encourage participation.

Goldsworthy’s work.

Check out Goldsworthy's work. It is great.

Mothers Day

Day 6 (5/9/10)

After a very frosty night, it warmed up to 59 degrees by one o’clock. It has been so busy that we haven’t had a chance to get out on the trail since March. I had hoped to have done a lot more building by now. In spite of a cool wind we decided to celebrate Mothers day on the trail. We noticed a couple of areas where people had been building including one very cool anamorphic build. I was rather small but looked kind of like a dinosaur made out of rock. We also came across a family with some kids that were adding on to “Prairie Memorial”. I only did one build at the old “Flow” site.

Back to Building

Day 5 (3/24/10)

It was kind of a cloudy, chilly day for biking but a great day for building. At first we were kind of worried how much time we would have to build. In spite of it being cool and a Wednesday the trail was somewhat busy. But as we rode we found ways to separate ourselves from the others. We took a couple of side excursions which allowed us some windows of opportunity. We noticed some of our builds from last year still standing or at least partially standing. I think maybe we have had some help by others. I noticed that the “Tripod” had some stones on it that weren’t there the last time I saw it. If that continues I will make my life easier and more interesting. Since “Prairie Memorial” was partially standing we decided to spend a little time rebuilding it. We didn’t spend a lot of time on it because we saw some people coming down the trail. We also started rebuilding “Flow” but again we had to run off when we saw approaching bikers. As I have mentioned before stealth is not as important as it used to be but we still avoid being caught as much as possible. It adds to the challenge and, I think, the mystical quality of the art. We also found some new areas that we worked on. In both cases they were off the trail and on the other side of water. We are hoping that will help with the longevity of the pieces. One of them we build in kind of a park like area that has a lot of potential for the future. The other one is in a natural grotto in a tree trunk. Again we had limited time for building but at least it gives us something for the future.