August 2017
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Month August 2017

Houston 2

First the Cajun Navy, now the Redneck Army

Doing good.

That pretty blue truck looks like a Hilux, I was sold by the ‘by truck’ post below already.

Dovizioso’s big day

As you may have heard, MotoGP is having glory years here. It’s witnessing a collision of genius level talent by a few riders.

OK, my fave rider below, Jorge Lorenzo. Genius, imo, having a bad year figuring out the new Ducati after years of mastery of his past Yamaha. He switched for the money, the richest rider contract ever. He’s called the smoothest rider who ever lived (in contrast to his abrasive and volatile personality) and feared by all

Even feared by potentially the greatest rider of all time, young Marc Marquez. He’s the master of the bold move, with his best years ahead of him. IMO the only person who can beat him consistently ahead will be Jorge Lorenzo

So it looks like Marc was going to do his usual thing and rob the field in the last few laps when his engine blew

Oh no, Iannone crashes with another rider again. Loved by all, he just can’t stop doing this and it has sadly cost him his best sponsors. He got booted by Ducati and is now on the slower Suzuki

This was the battle out front, Rossi, Dovizioso, Vinales

Dovizioso passes senior statesman Rossi braking into a sweeping corner

And holds it for the win

Rider standings, only 13 points separate the top 3. This is really surprising. He’s not only anybody’s top 4 list. But with Rossi having tyre difficulty in the last laps all year, Marquez crashing, Lorenzo not liking his bike, and Vinales not showing flair, Dovizioso may win the year, sneaking up the inside with superb consistency that no one else is showing

Houston 1

An image from the Houston disaster taken this morning I think.

The boat and crew may be one of the ‘Cajun Navy’ teams from neighbourly Louisiana, hundreds of which have been arriving. Puts it all back in perspective, if only for a brief moment

please help a rider in need

I posted track girls 2 back on June 2nd

Here’s Jay’s story, copied from her GoFundMe page:

Dear friends, as many of you know, my daughter Kezia was born blind in her right eye…..We have recently discovered that her vision in her left eye is deteriorating…I am desperately trying to take her to the USA to visit a consultant to get a clear prognosis & to hopefully save the remaining sight she has in her left eye.
She is now 12 years old with ambitions to become a software developer.
Our sight is so precious and we are terrified of her becoming blind at such a young age.
Every day counts for her at this stage….and we would be grateful for any donation to help get her to see the consultant she desperatly needs to see as soon as possible.

Jay is a single mom. So please, if you have a moment, please go to her GoFundMe link here and help a bit if you can:  EYESIGHT

1200 gs

Organizing photos today. Here’s the first longer ride out of Canada, October 2011, two weeks in Washington, Idaho and Montana. Photo over my shoulder by the best passenger I’ve ever had, faster was always better, Sheila M. Pre-GPS days. Man, what a skinny handlebar

Dropping the bike never phased her. Street tires weren’t helpful

The BMW 1200GS gets a lot of heat from some, but the thing is a continent crusher. It can double the comfortable day distance of the HP2.

olympus digital camera

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And, all of a sudden he realized why he raced bikes.

quiz

So I sent this photo, with a question, to 3 locals who are smart and well travelled, old friends, not part of my ADV group, who would guess the below immediately. Nope, they didn’t see it.

The question: Given that Yangon is a large city in SE Asia, what is the unique and seriously problematic thing about this photo? Why would the oddity in this picture bring say, Jakarta, to its knees? The answer to that here mid-October

concrete 3

Today’s concrete shots. I’ll keep doing concrete shots until I’m bored, and as that happens I’m getting the gear ready for the ride, after all the replacements. This stuff is only interesting to riders, and then sometimes not. Depends on the personality type.

This is a small pile of random stuff, picked to make a nice square flat photo

Dollar bill for scale. So just a few pounds includes

1) Arcteryx Goretex minimum shells, pants and jacket. Incredible size and weight for performance

2) Aerostitch compressor. A work of minimalist art, a no-frills unenclosed engine

3) Sea-to-summit body towel. Very very marginal towel. If you can shake off 95% of the water, it can deal with most of the rest. It’s never been great. Not much bigger than the wallet, above, so fine

4) 3 rolls of compressed MEC toilet paper I re-compressed. Picture included for color

5) 200 enamelled maple leafs for kids, will disappear in a month like always

Now, cables and webbing that are long and a pain

I label cables with metal-rimmed tags, and stay stocked up on rubber bands on the road. This is how solo riders go crazy.