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Drove up to Scott’s on Saturday all early like. Road was covered with 4 inches of slushy snow from the overnight storm. I pulled off at San Diego Canyon Overlook and shot this series. Nothing spectacular here, but I like the mood. I hope you enjoy.
This is a joke I found on a motorcycle forum sometime back, but it makes me laugh and thought I would share… enjoy…
I raced a Harley the other day and after some really hard riding I managed to PASS the guy. I was riding on one of those really, really twisting sections of mountain road with no straight sections to speak of and where most of the bends have warning signs that say “MAX SPEED 40 MPH”.
I knew if I was going to pass one of those monsters with those big-cubic-inch motors, it would have to be a place like this where handling and rider skill are more important than horsepower alone.
I saw the guy up ahead as I exited one of the turns and knew I could catch him, but it wouldn’t be easy. I concentrated on my braking and cornering. Three corners later, I was on his mudguard. Catching him was one thing; passing him would prove to be another.
Two corners later, I pulled up next to him as we sailed down the mountain. I think he was shocked to see me next to him, as I nearly got by him before he could recover. Next corner, same thing. I’d manage to pull up next to him as we started to enter the corners but when we came out he’d get on the throttle and out-power me. His horsepower was almost too much to overcome, but this only made me more determined than ever.
My only hope was to out-brake him. I held off squeezing the lever until the very last moment. I kept my nerve while he lost his. In an instant I was with him. Corner after corner, I could hear the roar of his engine as he struggled to keep up. Three more miles to go before the road straightens out and he would pass me for good.
But now I was in the lead and he would no longer hold me back. I stretched out my lead and by the time we reached the bottom of the canyon, he was more than a full corner behind. I could no longer see him in my rear-view mirror.
Once the road did straighten out, it seemed like it took miles
before he passed me, but it was probably just a few hundred yards. I was no match for that kind of horsepower, but it was done. In the tightest section of road, where bravery and skill count for more than horsepower and deep pockets, I had passed him. Though it was not easy, I had won the race to the bottom of the mountain and I had preserved the proud tradition of one of the best bits of Brit iron.
I will always remember that moment. I don’t think I’ve ever peddled so hard in my life. And, some of the credit must go to Raleigh cycles, as well. They really make a great bicycle…
Yeah, so I haven’t posted in forever. I am, indeed, still alive. And, in a rather good mood as of late too. The business is moving forward well, Mike has started handing out postcard adverts, and the web site is finally done, and we are starting to get interested parties calling.
I also have this fantastic network layout worked out that has great redundancy while minimizing implicit trust relationships (ie, secure and scalable). I’m looking forward to seeing it all in action.
We’ve been busy trying to get the house all cleaned up. I volunteered to host the caving club meeting at my place, tonight, mostly for the express purpose of a) getting me busy to finish some minor details and b) convince someone else to get some cleaning done at long last. Working so far, although my excursion to Santa Fe to fix a server yesterday impacted how much time I have to get everything done. Sheesh.
I’m attempting to sell my old motorcycle, but I can’t find the registration papers so I can put it on the Lemon Lot here in Los Alamos. Grrr. I wonder if the DMV will reprint those things for me.
Anyway, just a brief update. Hope every one else is doing well.
I have found, repeatedly (unfortunately, maybe), that when you are in intense crisis, you have this moment of perfect clarity, where everything else just kind of melts away, leaving you and your calamity, raw and uncut. Sometimes this serves to help you manage to steer clear of complete failure; sometimes it just gives you a minute to reflect on what you have done wrong before failure sets in.
Well, today, I had a moment of complete clarity.
I was invited to go on a motorcycle ride with Chrissy and Sam, who ride a Honda CBR 650 and a Yamaha R1 respectively. These are true sport bikes. My V-Strom thinks it is a sport bike, which it mostly is, but it is more correctly classed as a ’sport touring’, which means you sit upright and don’t go as fast. I had not ridden with these guys before, but I accepted the offer and headed to Albuquerque (which I was headed to anyway for a hockey game). The ride was to go down the ‘isle of man road’, which is up in the Sandias (the mountains near Abq), and which I had never been on.
Things started out pretty well, I was in the back, with Sam leading. Trying to keep up was interesting. My bike got quite the work out. Did you know that with the restrictor plates out, you can hit 130mph in 5th gear on a V-Strom? It’s what I’ve heard from a reliable source anyway… We head up the interstate, and go to get off at Tijeras. Of course, a pickup cuts us off. What is it with drivers sometimes? Head on up the road, staying with the speed limit through the town.
We get to the other side of the town, and Sam opens it up. I have a hard time keeping up here. I glance down at the triple digits on the clock, but the bike is doing alright. Passing cars, zipping along, and then we get to the ‘deadly’ switch backs. We had been warned about the hazards here, so we enter cautiously.
Somehow, my random picture blocks deserted me. I’m working on getting them working again.
However, I have also succumbed to publishing last played music on last.fm and have added a sidebar section with recently played tracks. You can click on the title there and it’ll take you to my page on last.fm if you feel like seeing what other crummy tracks I listen to. Also, highly recommended, is the band Metric, a somewhat obscure Canadian band that was recently pointed out to me. Bug me and I’ll get you some tracks if you want to check it out. Kinda rock, smooth vocals, indie, good stuff. Look here.
Anyway, just meta for now. I’ll post some meat soonish, maybe another short story if I get inspired.