Thursday, April 23, 2009

Scooter Madness

A neat project I've been working on for a while has been these cool aftermarket pipes for scooter racing (think Vespa on steroids, including wheelies).

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Bits and pieces, thank goodness for Solidworks

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Tight tolerances

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Finished product

If you happen to be a scooter enthusiast or would just like to browse around, check out 226vintage.com (link includes video of a pretty rowdy scooter).

In other news, I'm mostly recovered from my little bike crash and can ride and run with no problems. Still can't swim due to some bruised bones in my elbow, and that sucks.

On that note, time to get back into some dizzying Solidworks "fun."

&%$#*@ Moon

Here's a picture of the moon:

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Yay

It's not exactly a secret, but the moon is a pain to expose properly. Moving on...

Aces Game

I like to keep things chronological in my cozy corner of the internet, but a mild backlog of photos paired with a fair amount of actual work (still need LOADS more, though, if any of you need engineering work done...) have put me over a week in arrears as far as this baseball game is concerned. Anywho...

It's been a long time since there's been baseball in Reno, but the Aces and their brand new ballpark just started the season on the east side of downtown.

We got some stunning seats for the second game in the ballpark (Thanks Frank!) and watched the Aces lose to the Salt Lake City Bees, although they did put up a good fight. We saw the first-ever home run in the park, the first-ever grand slam in the park (both by the Aces, fortunately), and the first time the Aces lost at home (probably Ethel's fault for not cheering on the home team enough).

Our great seats (second row behind the visitors' dugout) made for good shooting opportunities, although a faster lens sure would've been nice. A notable feature of the park is that it's small enough to walk around and check out from many angles, and that it fronts on both the river and the train trench. I like the location.

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Check swing

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Nearing release

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Mid-swing

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Aces' logo on the dugout

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That's a strike

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Feeble hit but on the proper side of the line

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Light cluster

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Throwing to second base

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Fastball

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Caught lookin'

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Downtime at first base

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The action from right field

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Ethel, at the instant (look close!) that the first grand slam in park history was hit (totally planned it)

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Centerfielder

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A pitch as seen from the deep outfield

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Scoreboard after the grand slam

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Bottom of the ninth, hope fading

I really hope that this park succeeds, as it's good wholesome fun, accessible, and affordable. We'll see after the shine of being novel and new wears off!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

First Off

Got my first climb of the season in today; Geiger went by in 37 flat. Not bad for an out of shape hack.

This, however, is not a recommended way to end a ride:

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Sorted, thanks to Ethel:

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Helmet's in bits. Bike will probably be OK. Sunglasses done, shorts done, jersey done, gloves done. Wheels dropped into a gap in the asphalt and grabbed tight, then front flat, then wheels released with bike very out of shape. Happened pretty fast. 20 minutes beforehand, I was descending Geiger, so I'll take the chill neighborhood crash over some sort of 45mph-slide-into-guardrail-post scenario.

Still oozing a bit.

Past Detritus