The Recycled Teenager

Rubber side Down please

2011-05-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

Vintage Motorcycle Trials

Not an everyday occurrence but when it happens its amazing what an old bod can get up to on two wheels.

To begin with you need some old bod's with old trials motorcycles

Put them into some tricky terrain and you never know quite what will happen.

Most times they manage to have fun and stay upright

Even if its climbing up a steep rock or two to get to the next bit

Lots of thinking goes on too

Especially at the top of a hill

The rewards are, getting to the end without mishap and being tired but happy your getting better than last time out.

For some more images to enjoy Look here

Thanks for keeping an eye on us all David

Till next time then!

So where to next ???

2011-05-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

To every beginning there must be an end and that leads to another beginning of course.
And so our adventure with kites and boards is coming to an end but at least one more day to go yet and the promise of some reasonable wind and sunshine.
Since I shall be BUSY for the next few days I may not blog again till the next time when more fun will be in the offing, I think on two wheels this time.
Till then, be well :-))

The Washout

2011-05-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

To the Wash-Out then (location, location, location) !

If you never had the pleasure of a downwind ride then you should try it :-))
Just floating along behind a 19 meter twinskin takes a some beating.
Well this morning we had such a pleasure and to be greeted by SWSBO (She who shall be obeyed) was a bonus

Just tilt the board and GOOOOOOOO

Watch this space for more recycled escapades almost daily now it seems !!

The Silver Tsunami strikes again

2011-04-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

So the perfect spot to be a camera slut :-))
And just how much FUN can an old guy have ??

THIS MUCH

Its looking like this for the next few days, sunshine and wind !

Keep watching this space

Another day Another Kite

2011-04-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well at last I have gone to the Dark Side, I now own and have flown an LEI
Having just acquired a used 2009 Nash Cult I am seeing how far LEI kites have progressed in the last few years since I tried one on the Magdalen Islands and was disappointed at the time with its lack of depower etc.

So after two sessions I am optimistic things have got a lot better and the image below shows me out on the water with it.
Having over a week still to go I hope to get more time on it soon :-))
Now this is not to say I am convinced my twin skin kites are going to collect dust any time soon as to day and for the next couple of days its looking positively ballistic wind speeds approaching us and the auto zenith capability of my Peter Lynn Arc's will come into their own when I dump the board on a turn or jump, just let the bar go slack and the kite is there waiting for me overhead when I recover my senses and my board !!

Keep an eye on this space as they say.

Water Water Everywhere, now I am in the drink

2011-04-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

To kitesurf or not to kitesurf, Hmmmm!!

So what else ?
I am having FUN trying to stay afloat as usual but this time I have two weeks to see how good ( or bad ) I can be.

Just a bit of fishing practice going on here I think !

Keep it down lad your supposed to be on the water
Not to be outdone by this young friend I at least give it a go, well my kite got of the water so now what about me too (yes thats me laying down on the left)!

Wait for more wind Eh!

Till next time then

TTFN

PS:
Can any one tell I watched Wallace and Grommet last night ?

A Friday Ride

2011-04-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

So I sneaked of work today (Friday) as its going to be wet Sunday when I usually get a day of for good behaviour :-))
Of course I shall have to get in some extra hours to compensate never get a completely free ride !!
Well I decided to go see whats happening at the regular gas stop and watering hole in Calabogie, last year they had a fire and it destroyed the property but I am pleased to say gas pumps were not affected and they have carried on with those while the rebuilding is taking shape.
As you can see its coming along nicely and now has a ramp (maybe for us to drive through on our bikes !) and will have all amenities as before.

The dirt roads in the area are not all drivable yet especially the shaded parts so doing a bit more Asphalt than I would like but hey I got out didn't I ?

A up date on a farkle namely the MSR shifter I added, it still did not completely work as I wanted, so to start the day I went to the local friendly welding shop and got the extra mod I wanted done so now its perfect, nice to get real service locally when you desperately need it and absolutely have to go for a ride to test the mod.

And on a footnote its only another week or so before I get to play on the water in Pamlico sound.

Catch up here soon then.

Not Quite April 1st BUT !

2011-04-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Hi there ladies and germs :0)
So I got out with all the completed upgrades to my DRZ400S today and thought you all deserved an image to enjoy.
I had four hours and did a fare amount of dirt but one has to be extremely careful this early in the season, in most shaded areas there is still ice under a skim of slick mud etc.
Stay in 3 or 2nd gear on corners and at most 4 where you can see dry ground on the straight sections and be real steady on the throttle, too much in either direction can change you into a muddy painful mess in the twinkling of an eye.

With all that said I managed to squeak in a stack of pancakes and pot of tea for lunch a change to lighter gloves ( it was only + 3 C when I left home) and take of a layer which is why I have a backpack, this bike is light on storage places.
Oh and did I mention it was wall to wall sunshine, cant think of a nicer way to spend a Sunday this time of year.
Now I must get ready for my North Carolina Kite Surfing Holiday and while I am there you may get another post with different images and enough text to make you wish you were playing hooky too.

Next time folks :-))

Winter in the Toy Box

2011-03-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks

Just a taste of things to come this spring, almost finished and ready to roll.

Hope your liking it so far just wait till you see the FULL report :-))
See the last image in the post below for the difference, I can see the difference can You !!

Now is the Winter of our ?

2011-01-15T16:02:00.000-08:00

OK enough attempts at humour its still early in the year, but I thought it really was time I showed up here again.

Since the two wheel time of year is in the wings waiting to reappear I have been editing some images and enjoying a new sub group I belong to in the computer world (yes, yes just something else I get up to).

Being a proponent of open source computing the local Linux Users Group have a Photography sig (special interest group) which I very much enjoy being part of.

Now with digital images I am sure by now most folks understand one can accumulate a huge backlog of editing and the winter is an opportune time to do this part of all things digital.

I recently found a very enjoyable blog The Sartorialist (more about him another time) and not to beat around the bush it reminded me I have a blog myself !

So onto a couple of images then, the first one is a street image from Old Montreal in late summer 2010.
The colourful underside of the skateboard against the stone and brick shows nicely.

Changing an image to black and white sometimes makes a whole new image so here's one from the early winter I like.
If you drastically increase contrast as part of the editing process interesting things can happen.

Earlier in the fall I was in the same general location and !
And if you don't think I am ignoring my bigger toys I do have a heated toy box to play in when the snow is on the ground,
Just a little something I am working on when getting withdrawal symptoms.

Lets meet up here some time soon OK

2010-10-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

Its Fun now I have the second new bike in my long motorcycle career, (had quite a few previously enjoyed one's) getting used to it has been so far mostly getting in the saddle as its kind of tall because of the long suspension travel.
So now I have 7hours riding time on the nice computer that in the good old days used to be just a speedometer and if you were lucky a revcounter.
Compared to the KLR I traded (which was and still is a good machine) in for this bike its more than a 100 pounds lighter and has about the same power in the smaller engine, so power to weight ratio is a huge difference and I have to remember not to throttle up like the old machine or I could be in trouble.

Today's ride was a real eye opener as the first time out it seemed to be very light on both ends but after a rethink on what to do with said throttle I found the bike responded much better to keeping the RPM up a bit and just tweeking the power in and out as needed that also required carefully selecting the right gear to be used.
Safe to say I came home with wet feet and a smile on my face, why wet feet? well jumping puddles on the trails is tricky so you just slow down a bit and drive through hoping it wont get too deep.

By now you are wondering what this machine is I guess, good job I took a picture five minutes before it got wet and dirty (thats what they are for so you get to wash them)
So see below and know that I am having a VERY good year :-))

At the South end of the K&P trail.

Just a Taste for now

2010-04-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

So its late on Sunday the 25th and this is the first time I have had good enough WIFI for a blog post !

Well I have been riding the KLR HARD for 10 days now and apart from cleaning the drive chain and routine check KERMIT, yes kermit is performing well thank goodness.

So this image is from the Gemini Bridges ride

More to come as and when I have time and a good enough connection but for now I need a shower and some sleep as I am into Moab for supplies ( ice, food, water and some extra steel nerve powder! LOL ) first thing and off out into the unknown depths of Canyonlands
TTFN

One Year Later

2010-04-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

Well I suppose some would call it tardy or lazy!
I call it busy having FUN :-))

That's why its been a year since the last post.

So what am I up to now, you may well ask and I know you do !!

Its Friday evening and I am only two days from another trip to fun land, on Monday morning very early I leave for Moab in Utah in the good old USA.
You see when I acquired my KLR 650 I knew I was going to get to enjoy riding it and not worry about mud and dirt in general, little did I understand just how much fun I would have with it.
And now before I get any more distance under the saddle I thought it would be a good idea to go back to Moab.
Last time I was there was two years ago and in late July at 120 Fahrenheit, much to hot to hang around for more than a couple of days before heading up in to the hills for cooler temps.
Now after spending the last winter renovating the garage so it would be warm enough to work in I got down to fixing the KLR so it was in better shape for such a trip.
I had with much help from another member of the Three Rusty Beards built a suitable trailer for my bike from an old boat trailer by the start of the winter. So with that done I could get on fixing up the bike and see the picture emerging, car trailer and KlR ready to head west!

Hope you like the end result as much as I do :-))

More from the trip when I can hook up to the internet .

Smile and the whole world !

2009-03-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

You know the rest I hope.

So today was a milestone in a good friends recovery from a close encounter shall we say.
In Celebration of things to come the "Three Rusty Beards" ( with deference to Dumas ) took to the road in search of Fun.
As a consequence we seemed to arrive in time for tea/coffee and a piece of pie.

The resulting humorous finger pointing and calorie consumption is now well documented.
A sunny but windy day outside kept us in the warm for a few extra minutes before the bikes called us back into the saddle for our return journey home.

Now our good friend can rest a while till we drag him out into the bike riding pie eating world we all love so well.

Now for the proof of the pudding ( I mean pie of course )

Just Staying focused right guys

Life is Good

March Breakup

2009-03-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

So Tuesday was a real nice day to put the battery back in the 1150GS and go for afternoon tea.

It was really sunny, I had the camera with me and but waited till the return trip at the back end of the afternoon to stop and see what the ice on the Mississippi river was doing.
Blakeney is a nice spot to view the river close up so the following images are just a very few of what I took from the single track bridge and picnic area access.

A little side stream like this only happens in the spring

Occasionally an ice and snow bridge happens, nice for the small animals, (until it inevitably collapses).

Never have figured out what this is near the parking area!

Pretty thin ice

Interesting what an obstrution will do the the flow of water.
So now need to find time to look at all my images and see which ones to print , maybe in monochrome!

Lets see how that works out, next time then.

Spring into another Spring

2009-03-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

Well its been a while but that should prove I have not been idle!

The log pile is getting low and the sun is getting higher, 9C today and this is my second weeks of Sunday rides.
The new to me KLR (last fall) sprung into life last week right after reinstalling the battery, nice!.
Maintenance work soon but first a ride or two.Oh yes I did the tires and checked oil levels and lubed the chain of course David, Ha Ha.
The GS is next on the list to get some fresh air.

The winter was busy with the Christmas season at work and some very fun days of kite activity either with the snowboard or ski's, really getting comfortable with the board now, just like floating on hot butter almost :-))

Now we are into the season of browns and greys with some white overtones, and with the expectation of the greens to come.
Probably going to go all white again for a bit before the real spring hits us up in The Great White North.
But the longer days and fresher smelling air lifts the spirits for all at this time.

So with cups of tea on the occasional stops while on my Sunday rides we move into another season.

Nice afternoon EH

2008-09-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Well I took the afternoon off as it was sooo nice outside.

I have a new, to me, off road bike and it needed to taste some dirt and gravel roads.
Having done enough to get permission from the senior partner in the business, namely She who shall be obeyed, I proceed to go play with my new toy.

So where to go ? Well with something new lets go to familiar place and try to stay safe as I already know the terrain.
As you see above I found the gravel and had some fun at slower than usual speeds which as it turned out was beneficial because of the recent heavy rain we have had. There was lot of BIG puddle jumping to do and not being endowed with flippers and fins I decided not to go swimming.

The first part went well and confidence was building, OK time for a late lunch, pancakes sounded good and they were!
Next the question was where to go on the way home. Well an old railway line with the tracks removed was reasonable place to start.

Looks kind of tame but hey there is a water crossing halfway and its not for the novice, also there are a number of lakes and nice places to enjoy along the way. Just because its relatively straight don't become complaisant you have to keep your eyes peeled for holes filled with the wet stuff or you can finish up on your rear end with a bent bike.

Now at the end of this little part of the afternoon tour I turn left to head more directly to home and on the way I came across a rather large group of wild Turkeys but by the time I had stopped dismounted and got the camera out most had scurried of into the bush.
All was not lost as I turned a little and saw this rather nice Barn.
Right! so back on the bike which by the way has performed wonderfully in fact by now I really felt it was mine at last and not just borrowed from the previous owner.
I was sure now I could handle most of the roads I had been on before so took the next turn on my way home via New Road. I may have mentioned it before as it is far from new and is probably and old road first traveled by pairs of Oxen bringing adventurers to "The New World".

By now the afternoon was getting shorter and I needed a drink and a snack, and as luck would have it I was right by Clayton lake weir. Well to my surprise as I stopped a rather large old Heron was fishing at the sluice but once again by the time I got of the bike, well you know the rest :-))

With my apple and water bottle I settled down to watch the lake and see what activity there might be, in a couple of minutes the peace was disturbed by some guys fishing in boats as they searched another part of the lake to find where the fish were hiding.

So I enjoyed a little more sunshine and putting my helmet and gloves back on made for home.
Time like this is hard to find in a busy life but it can sure stand still when you do find it.

Hope you enjoyed the afternoon as much as I did and all thanks to My Angel for letting me have the afternoon off to go play with my 650KLR, oh yes and someone for organizing the great weather.

See you all next time.

Life goes on, doesn't it?

2008-08-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

So I find myself lost and confused temporarily. I found out ,since the last post , that Nick has passed on. No! we have not lost him, just his mortal side.

Each time we lose a dear friend or family member,( sometimes one and the same) we get a little closer to understanding our own state on this place we call earth.

I look to all the knowledge I have of different cultural ways to deal with this loss and come up with a consistent method, "Celebration of life". We all know within ourselves that when our time comes to depart our wish will be that everyone can celebrate our time together.

N0w I will enjoy the memories of all the good times I had with or because of Nick, I say because, as there were things we shared and did together making it possible for me to go onto other things in my life, and will continue to do so.

In saying farewell, I will try to be a better person to all the other people in my life so that when my time comes they will smile on things we did together.

Oh yes and please go fly a kite , as Nick and I did many times together, remembering all the children we helped to fly theirs too.

Return of the Wanderer & Women are Angels

2008-08-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well I am back!
We are now heading into the late summer and so far I have not had much kite surfing since spring.
However I have had other fun, oh yes and a birthday but more of that later.

I was supposed to visit my good friend Nick and his wonderful other half Carolyn on the west coast, that will have to be delayed a while as Nick has had to deal with a difficult test of his tenacity for life. Luckily from the sound of things all is going according to plan with the support of his personal angel (Carolyn) and the medical staff helping him through this difficult time.

So my motorcycle has been put to good use and instead of the west coast it has carried me to equally delightful places in the mid west of the USA.
Of course none of this would have been possible without my own angel, she who shall be obeyed :-))
While I was gone for more than three weeks my angel ran the home and business enabling my eyes to delight upon the wide variety of landscapes my trusty steed happened to arrive at.

With some encouragement from others in my motorcycle group I departed for three rallies in South Dakota and Wyoming with a side trip to Moab between no2 and no3. I shared each part of the trip with a friends, some from home and some made en voyage.

Having traveled in the general area of the mid & south west before (not on a motorcycle though) I thought I had an idea of what to expect but I am always surprised at how wrong one can be on ideas about travel.
Not having done a long trip (10,667 Kilometers) of this nature for many years the changing view around every corner or over every rise made it quite tricky to pay attention to my driving safely.
I will not try to cover the trip in any detail or we would be here for the duration! but I will say the beginning of the journey in Ontario allowed me to re visit familiar locations and oh yes pick up some books on Photography at a used book store I had not planned on stopping at (thanks David) , they were cumbersome so I had to have them mailed home. But wait this was only my first day out what would the rest of the trip bring.

How about this for starters, early morning in Oacoma

And then it was time for Canyon country to begin!

Spearfish Canyon, a very pretty place to see.

Then there is the variety of the floral side to nature.
No idea what this is but they grow under very dry and difficult conditions, like us sometimes.

Even underground I found amazing stuff, no I did not take the bike down a mine but visited one that turned out to be dry as far as financial content was concerned so it has been a tourist item since the thirties.

I shall leave this one to your imagination.

Time for some liquid refreshment I think, well we did have horse power :-))
A remnant of the old west? maybe!

There are still a lot of cowboys and cattle you may run into them as we almost did.

Altitude, something else to pay attention too, I did suffer a little but it was worth it.
And colours too, vibrant even the soil and rocks, every moment to be savoured.
But you cant stay away forever that would spoil it for the next time, besides had a birthday party to get home for. So I made tracks for the homestead and my angel.
Not only did I have my cake, and ate it too, very nice but I had some great friends to share it with.

So Nick you and I share more than one thing in life, we both have Angels to take care of us !

Well folks I could go on about things since the last posting but I have to go have supper.

On the Waterfront

2008-05-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

OK so here we are again, somewhat delayed as usual by too much fun being had!

This time it been a week in Cape Hatteras playing with Kites and boards.
Safe to say there was enough wind every day to get out on the water although on two occasions it was decided to do a downwind run rather than the Walk Of Shame.
Myself and a group of good friends rent a large enough place on the Pamlico sound side of the Outer Banks or OBX at is referred to by those who go there.

This is the place :-))

And this is the upstairs lounge

So now a bit more, well the first thing one does on Holiday is to dip your toes in the ocean, right?

Or even take a dip

But I prefer to use a bit more energy and play a little harder, so here is my friend Jeff cruising on his 19Meter Arc by Peter Lynn Kites and I think on his Underground Board.

Now it just so happened that I had two new Synergy Arcs with me and off course Jeff could not keep his hands off the new 19 when I got it out of the bag so here is a video (from my aptly named ("Go Pro HERO Cam") with him on my D Kay Board and the new Synergy 19M

When I finally got the kite and board back I found out very quickly how much I liked the better performance over the older model I had been using and I am sure the more I get to use it and figure out the tuning the more I will get from this new toy, as long as I don't injure myself having too much FUN in the process!
Speaking of the down wind runs mentioned at the beginning of this scribing, on the Thursday the wind was supposed to only pick up by 4 ish in the afternoon so I took the opportunity to go to Ocracoke with my peaceful and long suffering wife. After a nice drive an AppleUgly (that's a whole other story) and a cup of tea we arrived at the ferry terminal and boarded the next ferry for a 40 minute ride plus another shorter drive on hwy 12 we spent a pleasant couple of hours in the town where Blackbeard once enjoyed a beverage or two before being caught as the Pirate he was and executed.
Returning to the house later that day and after a look on the ocean side it was decide to do a late afternoon run down wind , so with the gear loaded up we drive back upwind about 8 miles to Salvo beach on the sound side and after a bit of hard work due to the beach being sheltered from the wind we got the kites in the air and worked our way out into the sound.
All was well for a while, then the wind increased and I realized my 19M was getting me overpowered and I could have done with a bit more depower on my bar setup. Well it was getting dark due to the late start and so I dug in my heels as it were and worked my way trying to keep up with Jeff who had more down wind experience than I had, Matthew was being careful and keeping an eye on his son Trevor who was very new to kite surfing at this time, they were still back upwind of us and in the end did the sensible thing and went ashore to walk the last bit home.
I off course I thought I could manage OK at that time so continued, well to cut the story short I did manage to elude a wreck and a point of land just before the house in the dark but on ditching my kite at the house the safety line broke and Jeff with some inspiration from Josh on the beach was the hero of the hour and saved the kite from disappearing over the horizon.
So all is well that ends well especially in the hot tub with a beer or two followed by supper and bed to dream of it all over again till the morning।
My thanks to all at the house and especially our visitor Dave S from Arcusers who all made my time in OBX a VERY fun affair. There is way too much more I could mention but this is a blog not a diary or even a biography of the week away so for the unmentioned folks I hope you are not offended :-))
Oh yes and the food was great too !

Now I am home again and back at my workbench trying earn a crust for the next fun trip in July.
Although today I had some fun with another group of friends on two wheels but that will have to wait till next time.
So I hope this will satisfy one or two who have been chiding me about my lack of agility on the keyboard of late.
Till the next time then, your host of fun in the grey zone The Recycled Teenager.

Spring iz here The Bike iz riz, again!

2008-04-06T18:51:00.001-07:00

So OK poetic licence but its been a long time coming this year, not to say I haven't been enjoying the winter sports but hey its time to change the season !

And so a couple of pictures to say what a nice day out with some friends.
The new Camera is proving to be enjoyable as I learn some more of its tricks each time I open the shutter.
It never ceases to amaze me whatever the weather what an incredible piece of the planet I live on.
As each day passes I count my pleasures and savour the visual feast for my eyes, having a capturing device allows me to enjoy it many times more. I hope these few images convey that feeling to the viewer. Enough to encourage you to open your own eyes to whats in front of our respective noses that which we miss all too often in the daily hustle of making it through till sleep.
I don't mean to preach at any one, just to convey my joy of life.
So enjoy with me!

New rubber for the new seasonCatch up you two :-))

So who's on first then?

This looks COLD, brrrrr

Well its time for that well earned sleep I spoke of!
Till the next time, happy dreams

The Great White North

2008-02-27T19:07:00.000-08:00

Well the video will give you a clue as to my silence lately.
Just something else I manage to fit into my tight schedule of FUN FUN FUN

More soon I hope

And so you know what I look like :-))

Three Bears or a trio of Goldilocks

2007-12-16T18:53:00.000-08:00

Well I finally got a few minutes of no interruption.

So time now to reveal the fun that was three visitors from the UK. This being my second visitation from over the Pond it was a bit later in the Fall season and somewhat cooler. Finding interesting things for visitors to do is one thing, but late in the year and three generations at the same time was definitely a bit of a challenge.

Not being the faint of heart kinda guy, it had been suggested by my good spouse that tree walking or Zip Lining might be a fun thing for the two younger ones in the trio. Never having had the opportunity, or for that matter even thinking about doing such a thing, I was intrigued to say the least.
The Aerial Experience was soon to be mine, and the relatives too of course. As with the previous niece we did other entertaining things like eating Beaver Tails etc. However this was the most testing day of the visit as it included snowflakes being blown in your face by high winds whilst being up a very tall tree!
Soon after arrival, our adventure began with being kitted up with a seat and waist harness combination. Attached to these were two carabineers each on a length of webbing and a third item on its own rope with the wheel mounted carabineer, this would allow the individual to stay safely attached to a cable stretched from tree to tree and yet allow them to travel from one platform to another.After a short walk up a long hill we arrived at an instructional area where we had the Do's and Don't's of the safe way to move through the course before us starting with a ten meter ladder to climb to the first platform.

Well they went home tired and happy.

And so as I put up this blog edition the weather outside has turned to WINTER with a vengeance, it is now a winter wonderland for some and something to be endured by others, I am of the former so that may be my next entry.

Daughters I Never Had

2007-11-24T17:28:00.000-08:00

OK so this is next time.

Well back a few weeks the first of my two visitors this year showed up from the UK with need to be entertained. This involved scouting what could be done in one week within driving distance. The thing that appealed to me most turned out to be “White Water Rafting” but since I was not in possession of a waterproof camera, there are very few pictures.

The fun thing was to figure out how to put pictures on for this blog then.
I thought about how my niece was a bit on the underweight side and how my wife had resolved to Fatten her up a bit, then pictures of that process came to mind.
Although other outings were accomplished during her stay with us, this one has the more amusing evidence.

So to the evidence then,

The day before the outing
Breakfast on the day looking all pristine, but not for long!
Here I go then, what is this ? Maple Syrup on Sausages !
The Bus to the start of the days fun
Well I did not say there weren’t any pictures of the rafting
So next time the second visit results, a bit more complex than this as there were three visitors.

Captain Solo

2007-11-14T14:52:00.001-08:00

Well I did not expect to get a bike ride like this before winter.
But then it turned out Sunny and great if you could take the cold.
Could not resist posting about it either.
So here goes:
10.45 start as I was hoping to avoid frost on the roads and about zero Celsius.
Arrived in Almonte for a quick cuppa tea and see if any one else would show up.
In a word, NO!
Ok get on the bike and go to Perth and Me & Mrs Jones for lunch.

Now I was getting more comfortable with the cool temperature and it was going up just a couple of degrees by the afternoon with the wonderful sunshine.

Out of Perth and west on #7 to Harper Road and turn into my afternoon ride direction.Next on Keays Rd to concession road 7 to stay on asphalt.

Now right at T Jct. onto cr12
left on Ashby Rd to Sheridan Rapids Rd onto cr16

Left on cr16 South Lavant rd
Rt on Black Creek Rd to Joes Lake Rd
Keep rt on Black Creek Rd to Flower Station
continue on into Lavant Darling Rd which turns into French line Rd
Arrive at 511 and Turn Left to Calabogie and up to Munfords for afternoon tea, well hot chocolate as it turned out.
Met a couple with a very nice 100S ds Ducati and time to get home before dark.
On the way home I stopped at White Lake for some afternoon photo's and proof of how cold it was,

And reflect on the day :-))

see the ice!

Well that would appear to be it for the season as we are expecting more than inclement weather from now on.
That does not mean I wont be referring to Motorcycles during the next few months you understand.

Did you notice how the camera keeps sneaking in, well more on that later as well as the promised antics with the two nieces.

"Missing in Action"

2007-11-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

Well since my last entry things have been quite busy, there have been motorcycle rides of course.
However I did mention kites last time and this is where I shall start.

I finally put my Kite Powered Catamaran away for the winter but not before one last outing in late October. Since I was in the Cat and flying the kite, I have no pictures but in order for you to know how this all works I shall start at the beginning.
My sixtieth birthday, a couple of years ago now, was a good excuse to go visit a friend in New Zealand as he is the designer of both my KiteCat and the kites I use to power it. On a whim when my wife said what would I like to do to celebrate turning sixty I mention New Zealand, not thinking she would take me seriously, of course.
Well to my pleasant surprise she just said "OK". It did not take me long to get up off the floor and book a ticket.
Well that was a fun trip and so here are a few pictures of my first attempts to sail a boat with a kite.

Loaded up and ready to roll.

The very first time on the water, Brighton Beach near Christchurch.

getting the hang of it, almost out past the surf.Well this is easier, second time out in the estuary near Christchurch.

Never did look good in a closeup.

Lake Mead up in the mountains, a tricky place for wind direction.

All done for another day.

The following year in Pamlico Sound, Cape Hatteras waiting for wind!Ah, found it and got going.

Earlier this year in the river near where I live which is mostly where I sail.Thats it folks pack up and time for a cool one.

Hope you like the pictures, just enough to give you a taste of an unusual pastime.

Well I said I have been busy and in the last month or so, we have had two visitations from the old country.
Both from nieces on my wife’s side of the family, now I have a dubious reputation to uphold as far as "The Recycled Teenager" is concerned, other stuff shall be left unsaid at this time !

So the first niece who is in her late 30's I took whitwater rafting.
The second visiting niece in her early 30's I took to the tops of the trees locally, Zip lining and generally doing scary stuff, no I am not comfortable with any heights where I do not have both feet on the ground.
The resulting pictures and story line from these two escapades I shall leave till next time so as to keep you coming back.

Now remember today’s title and do stop for two minutes at least on Sunday the eleventh.

The Perfect Line

2007-10-15T17:38:00.002-07:00

The Perfect Line
A metaphor for how to look at anything.
Well Its getting close to putting the Bike away for the winter so with the possibility of a dry day and
maybe up to 10 Celsius as a high I got the bike out.
Pretty cold first hour or so but breakfast was waiting in a nice warm restaurant  in Perth (Ontario)
with some great company to boot.
The club I belong to "BMW Motorcycle Club of Ottawa" and the "Loonie-Tic BMW Riders of Quinte West"
had planned on a ride around our new Race Track in the area.
www.calabogiemotorsports.com
Also a much loved member of the ManyPause Club, a Past President of the BMW Motorcycle Club
of Ottawa along with his spouse rounded out the group.
The track day was held under the auspices of the BMW Car Club of Ottawa, under the umbrella of
BMW Club Canada.
It was mostly to show people what the track is like up close and a pretty good way to promote track time.
Well we all had two nice laps at a controlled speed by following a club member in his car who is also
a BMW car club member and is connected at the track.
Lap one was nice but by lap two I was seeing how learning about the perfect line would help my
road driving skills.
Then after the track and a lunch break at a favourite location A good friend and I headed home
via a route chosen with some off road sections.

OK who's up first then?

A cloudy but dry day, not bad for track riding.

The picture above and below are my camera but not my finger on the button, if you know you will see I am in them both.If I have to have four wheels, this would be a nice choice
This almost says it all

At the end or beginning of "New Road", another metaphor, who knows?

While on this journey I got to thinking about how a similar an approach was needed to
navigate whatever kind of terrain I was on, back to that perfect line again.
Whether going through a corner at the track or picking my way between some bumpy and
rough conditions it came to the same thing.
And so at the end of "New Road" while taking the last picture here I decided this was
a nice subject to scribe about since again when taking photo's its always about the
perfect line or in this case frame.

You may begin to realize through my blog that photography is another passion of mine,
more about that in later postings.

Four wheels four feet

2007-10-08T15:58:00.001-07:00

Well here we are another fun week just flown by.
So much and yet ! what to write this week that will get the minds of readers tingling for another glimpse of "Age not being a barrier"

So its Thanksgiving here in Canada this weekend and I am a day late with my entry this week.
The following pictures will explain why yesterday was occupied.

The Fall colours are well worth another visit and in order to do this my good wife should be included in another of my jaunts into the countryside.
However she does not ride on the back of my motorcycle so the car was dragged into service for this occasion.
The car is not in bad shape and I would like to keep it that way so in order to share a particular location with my wife we left the car at the start of one of my favourite GS rides and walked a fair way down the California Road ( not in California ).

So to the pictures, enjoy !

It was noticeable when walking with my wife just how much I miss even going slowly on my motorcycle.
Ah yes my Camera is a Sony 828 for those who are interested, a great value for money and as I am limited in that department I try to make the most of what I have.

Till the next time then.

This is a Farm !

2007-09-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

No surprise today to see so many people having fun in the sun but quite how you might expect.
I went to observe something I used to do when much younger and am looking at getting back into.
As I have never given up motorcycling since my first bike in 1959 I think its doable.
This is about a little known (in North a America) but traditional form of motorcycling."Trial Riding"and is perpetuated by a group of older guys generally on older machines.
Not the modern trials you may see in arenas and sometimes shown in large shopping malls.
Bikes hopping over barrels and up a multitude of over sized Lego type blocks etc.

This style of trial is partaken of in the open countryside and contrary to what you may think is not necessarily noisy to a point of annoyance.

However I do not want to spend this time with a diatribe about the sport just an intro leading to my theme about how age is not a barrier and what is going on in society to show this.

Although a few of the participants today were young and some very young most were over 40 and some over 60.

Now for the pictures taken on what used to be a farm in the good old days!
Enjoy as I did the Fall weather and some serious adrenalin, old style.

A bike similar to the one I rode in the early sixties as an apprentice going to work in London UK.

Looking good so far

OOPS

What a nice day in the country.

One of the youger entries.

Smile for the camera.OK then.Ah so this is next, maybe I should walk through first.

Section 10 and its all over for the day, time for a brew maybe.

All loaded up and ready for the drive home.

Not before one last look at the much cared for old farm house on the hill.

Thanks for the hospitality David.

I hope this gives a little picture of this sport now and maybe want to investigate further just what else "The Recycled Teenager" gets up to when not at home.

Oh yes retirement is not an issue since I retired at birth :-))

Promise it will not be motorcycles next week, OK.

Two Legs and Two Wheels in Two Days

2007-09-23T17:40:00.001-07:00

So this weekend turned out to be on my motorcycle (2000 BMW 1150GS).
How did this happen! well I was Kitesurfing a couple of weeks ago and after I got home my left knee started acting up and then became real pain. I think it may have happened when I was unceremoniously lofted by a gust! It is getting better finally hence the bike rides.
So back to this weekend the BMW club I belong to has a mystery ride this time of year and it was supposed to be on Saturday but when we arrived at the start location it had been canceled due to the possibility of rain.
So four of us headed out regardless of that, in fact only a couple spits descended on us all day.
My knee was well supported in a neoprene support brace and was quite comfortable.
We enjoyed the Fall Colours

and the further north we went the more glorious Mother Nature became.
Sunday of course was the postponed mystery ride so having received permission from "She who shall be obeyed" I was able to participate two days in a row.
Our Lunch location is an old favorite so a picture is worth a thousand words, well that works for the ice cream stop later in the afternoon as well.

The Swiss Inn

No not the Swiss Miss but close, our fearless leader Michel with his PINK ice-cream.

I shall say no more till next time.

My First Post

2007-09-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

What I want to convey is my reason for blogging.
I have a number of interests outside of my work and people often ask about them.
Rather than another website I thought I would give this a try.

So I will put more in my profile and try to put something here once week if time permits.

I hope you will be surprised and pleased to see what can be done with enthusiasm.

More later when I have got my head around the layout of a blog.