Scooter Madness, the Sequel

The guy I work with who makes the aftermarket scooter pipes has his third pipe in production now...here are a few "grunge glamour" shots of this latest one (once again at the top of the dyno sheets!).







We worked long and hard to make the fitment of this pipe perfect and to keep it from dragging on the ground when the scooters are cornering hard.

226vintage.com for dyno videos!

Mr. TTT Pities the Fools

The Reno Wheelmen hosted a Team Time Trial out at Cold Springs last night; 2 laps for a total of 14 miles. I joined a team with Nate, Pete, and Graham, none of whom I'd ever ridden with. I think most teams practice ahead of time!


Pointy helmets ambling about...must be a time trial


Team Eclipse discusses pizza toppings on the start line

OK, so I've got a pointy helmet, but I don't have any of the other usual grams-of-drag-shaving TT garb like aero booties or a skinsuit. My substitutes? Winter shoe covers in lieu of aero booties, and Patagonia Biostretch long underwear (!...at least it was white) in lieu of a skinsuit. Much like a Formula 1 car, I'm instantly overheating while standing still. And the comparison ends there.

After a few minutes of introductions and Teamwork 101, we were off.

Ready for a quick lesson on how a TTT works? Alrighty. So you've got a team, and the goal is to get the team (or most of it) around the course as quickly as possible. The fastest way to get a small group of riders around is to ride as close together as is safe, and to take turns at the front of the line where there's no benefit of a draft. So from above, you'd see a line of riders, nose to tail, and then every so often, the front rider would peel off and coast to the back of the line, where he/she would rejoin. Once peeled off the front, that rider is recovering and getting ready for his/her next turn at the front. Rinse, repeat, make adjustments on the fly depending on who's getting tired, and call it a day. Back to our regularly scheduled programming...


Team 13 (that's us) up to speed

Graham cramped at the end of the first lap and peeled off, but that was OK since our time would be the third guy across the line, meaning that dropping one guy wouldn't disqualify us. It also meant more work for the three of us, but that's OK too.

We did a good job riding safe and avoiding road hazards, a good job communicating, and a good job of not surging through when the lead rider peeled off. No doubt we should have ridden together as a team for some practice before race-day warmup, but we came through OK. I also think we could have held a higher effort throughout, but that's just my take; the teammates would have to chime in.


Reuniting with our missing team member at the finish line

(Ethel took all the photos; thanks babe!)

Good times all 'round, and now I've got a TTT under my belt.

Looking forward to the Donner Lake Int'l Triathlon on Sunday; feeling fit.

Windy Fireworks

The hill that I posted up on to watch the fireworks was getting battered by the wind, but a few of these are OK.

All at 450mm effective, 8 sec., ISO 200, and f/16 (last one is f/14).













Seemed to work OK, all things considered.

Booze and Food Recipes

From a few weeks ago, but still fun and worth sharing.

The Mingin' Murphy:



2 parts vodka
1 part Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur
2 parts Voyant Chai Liqueur
1 part chai tea concentrate

Combine in shaker, add ice and shake after the glasses are prepared (next step).

Rim glass with a warm mixture of honey and water, then drag through ground cinnamon.

Pour drink into glass, add a drizzle of cream, and garnish with a cut and split vanilla bean.

Enjoy.


Sam WANT

Mexican Pizza:



Broil, for 5-10 minutes:
some halved tomatillos
several colors of halved bell pepper
halved pasilla pepper
some thinly-sliced white onion drizzled with olive oil

Combine in a food processor the following:
the roasted tomatillos
some roughly chopped carrot
1/2 serrano
1/2 jalapeno
the roasted pasilla

Reserve half of this salsa. This, by itself, is quite hot.

Combine in a food processor the following:
some freshly diced tomatoes
tomato paste
oregano
salt and sugar to taste
the other half of the tomatillo salsa

Simmer this tomato-tomatillo-sauce for a bit.

Brown in an olive-oiled saucepan:
diced pork
season with cumin, chili powder, and anything else you're fond of

On a tinfoil-covered cookie sheet, start with a large (10" or larger) tortilla.
Top, in this order, with the following:
the tomato-tomatillo-sauce
shredded pepper jack cheese
cooked pork
roasted onions
sliced roasted bell peppers
diced fresh tomato
dabs of the reserved tomatillo salsa

Bake in a 350º oven for 12ish minutes.

After removing from oven, top with sliced fresh avocado and some chopped cilantro.

Actually quite healthy.

Slice and enjoy.

Quick Echo Lake Mission

Chase, Lauren, Riley, Derby the Dog, and I made a quick blast up to Casa Hancock at Echo Lake (gateway to Desolation Wilderness) last Wednesday. We got there mid-afternoon for 24 hours of fun, mostly encompassed by swimming, cooking, eating, and going on little side-hikes in the neighborhood. Oh yeah, and taking loads and loads of photos. Go ahead and call it a photo camp. Between us, enough film was exposed and enough data stored to keep a darkroom in business for the duration of the economic downturn.

So instead of telling some roundabout story to narrate all of these, we'll just kind of group them together and let them tell their own story.

Photos I got to take with Riley's stonkin' 5DMkII and his ripping cool 15mm fisheye:







Rock:








Think this one's getting framed

Tree:












The Wedge


Ralston Peak in the background



Dog:








Coolin' them feet off

Human:


Testing the waters with Derby


Mmm, cold








This is fast becoming one of my favorite photos ever - Lauren, Chase, and Derby



Water:


@ 1/4"

Cloud:


Cloud perfectly mimicking Flagpole Peak




Shimmery goodness


More shimmeryness

Star:




Big Dipper front and center

Riley got some awesome photos, and I've seen a couple of Chase's negatives, too. All awesome. Save for the dead battery in Chase's car when we got back to the parking lot (which was salvaged by fresh raspberry milkshakes), the trip went off without a hitch. It's a shame to spend so little time in such a special spot, but we gotta take what we can get!