BFisher

@M1T, outstanding shot! Wow! Seeing wildlife on rides is a big reason why I like to ride.

By the way, did you know that Carbondale, CO is named for Carbondale, PA, which is a mere 32 miles north of me?

stardognine

Heh, I just saw a good sized rattler, a bit before all this rain started in Northern California. Riding at night, which I seldom do, I nearly ran over mine too.

I was just wondering recently, if all this flooding might not kill off a big percentage of them. 🤔

Rocket-Sauce 

Yesterday was such a crap day for riding (freezing temps, sleet) but my kids felt it was important to go see the new MLK monument on Boston Common



There has been some backlash on its, um, 'back end' (not my photo). Once your dirty little mind sees it, cannot be unseen.

XxHaimBondxX

My dirty little mind didn't notice, until I read your comment.

steelbikeguy

The quote about the embrace does help put the sculpture in the proper context... I appreciate the photo!

otoh, I'm not sure I needed the other comment [where's the "cover my eyes" emoji??].

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

I was out enjoying a warm-ish day.. 32F, and taking a less-traveled road.
I was approaching a graveyard that I've passed many times, but thought this was a perfect day to just stop and look around. This is a small graveyard... perhaps 100 or 200 graves? It is a couple of miles outside a small town, and no obvious association with any church.

After leaning the bike up against the chain link fence surrounding the graveyard and walking in a short distance, I saw one grave marker that was distinctly different. It was clearly unlike any that I'd seen previously. I grabbed a few photos with my lousy phone...













For something dating back to the late 1800's (presumably), it's in good shape. I can't help but wonder how it was fabricated. Could it have been carved from stone?? That seems like a huge amount of work, and therefore expense. If not carved, then maybe it was made of concrete and cast in a form?? This seems a bit more practical, but would concrete last this long?
Can anyone shed some light on this?

Steve in Peoria
(but the photo was taken just a bit SW of Dunlap)

BFisher

@steelbikeguy, that looks like maybe limestone. Apparently those tree trunk stones were popular for a period of time, and most were limestone or marble, so I've read. If so, its condition is impressive for that material. Limestone would be the easier material to carve.

A family member was in the monument business his whole life. I used to work with him setting markers and headstones, and sandblasting names on. All granite.

If you want to see more impressive work, look up the great crosses over in Ireland, especially the one at Monasterboice. I saw it in person. Stunning, and extremely old.

BFisher

A link to an interesting site about those stones: Treestones at BNC

steelbikeguy

The mention of Sears Robuck made sense to me. Considering how they were the Amazon of their day, at least in the sense that they sold everything to everyone, it would be logical for them to have a source of tree trunk grave markers that only needed to have the details of the deceased carved into them. There was mention that local masons could carve them too (not related to purchasing from Sears), but how many local masons were capable of that sort of sculpture?

I do like the tree trunk style! It's certainly a way to display status, but without the implicit message of being superior which some modern elaborate graves imply. ...or am I reading too much into some?

Steve in Peoria

curbtender

That's funny, I was just talking to the kids about Sears/Wards being the Amazon of the day. It was nice to be able to order at the Oakland catalog department and be able to get your order in about 15 minutes.

thumpism 

^ Those look like Monarks. Check that kickstand on the right.

Bruce27

fooferdoggie 

cold beers.

fooferdoggie 

nothing like a grade school next to a boneyard. I mean they even have cold beers

fooferdoggie 

M1T

Amazing the amount of detail... the leaves for example, the bark, etc. Must have taken many hours to complete. I thought I was the only person on the planet that was fascinated by reading headstones. Thanks for sharing that one!

steelbikeguy

that looks familiar... not the bike, but the Douglas DC-2 in TWA markings.
I saw this at the EAA event at Oshkosh, WI in 2010...



Gotta love the classic lines!

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

BFisher's links mention the details, such as the ferns at the bottom. I can't imagine how much work it would take to create this, or how uncommon it must be to have local masons or sculptors capable of creating this sort of work.

I'm not really a headstone person, but I have stopped at some of the local graveyards when I'm going by. We even have a semi-celebrity in the local Springdale Cemetery... Octave Chanute! He was a civil engineer, but he was also an early experimenter and pioneer in flight. A replica of his glider is displayed at the Air Force museum in Dayton, OH, and had an Air Force base named after him. He was an advisor to the Wright brothers (to bring this back around to bikes).
The USAF museum not only has a replica of Chanute's glider on display, they also have one of the bikes that the Wright fellows sold...





surprisingly(?), Chanute's grave marker is quite modest....



Steve in Peoria

steine13

That Wright Bros. bicycle appears to be an early Rivendell...

cheers -mathias

steelbikeguy

Those are Rivendell-ian chain stays... but their bikes were Van Cleve. No idea of whether they ever used other branding. Nice headbadge, though!




Steve in Peoria

thumpism 

I like tossing this one in periodically, seen in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.

Schwinn approved, of course.

There are several other family members planted nearby.

steelbikeguy

For such an icon of Chicago industry, it's a shame that there's no hint of his influence on the world.

...now I'm starting to wonder what the graves of Mr. Sears and Mr. Roebuck look like??


Steve in Peoria

curbtender

They could have made a stone headbadge...and maybe used Schwinn date code?

thumpism 

The individuals' stones are small like that of Ignaz, but the family's section marker is more impressive than the rest, is taller than I am, and probably weighs more than a Varsity.

3speedslow

Today coming back from the grocery store. Found this little guy in the road. No life left but not run over.

not a lobster but a crayfish.