A beautiful day for a ride!

Took off this morning to try my hand at a street enduro hosted by Precision Challenge.

To explain basically what this is, you leave the start point with a very specific set of directions at a set time (0900 this time) and drive exactly as they tell you. The goal is to arrive at each of the check points at the exact time they pre-determined. This repeats at each of the checkpoints along the route.

I met Ryan, Steve (friends from TWTEX.com) and a gentleman on a Harley (Mike) there. Along with the folks putting it on. Ryan, Mike and I are in the same class. Steve is in another one because he brought his wife on the back of his Tiger.

So myself and Ryan are assigned to the first group. We decide to work together to get this done (none of us had done this before).

Made the first check point ok, got our time card stamped and punched and off we went.
Got to the second check point, took of and promptly (well, 3 miles later) discovered we'd gone the wrong way. So we are now 6min behind schedule. Gotta make up time.

Traffic on I35 (where we were supposed to be) was thick and we couldn't make up any time.
good fortune shined on us once we left the interstate though and we were able to make tracks (At the posted legal limit of course )

Arrived at the third checkpoint exactly on time and took our 40min lunch break.

Got back on the road and nearly missed the 4th check point. (I think they were trying to hide from us...) Then back on the road.

Somewhere along this stretch we got to looking at the route sheet and realized things were a bit funny. we were WAY WAY ahead of the alloted time. and we were running 5 UNDER the limit.
So SH121 saw myself and Ryan running ~12mph on the shoulder trying to eat time.
Steve and Mike caught up with us and we discussed whether there was typo or we really were supposed to take 2hrs to cover ~35mi.

Finally rolled in about 20min before the route sheet time and discovered that they'd made an error in the calculations. They felt horrible, but now I've got a crazy story!

I had an absolute blast. Cost me $25 to enter and I walked away with a tie for 2nd place, a $150 check, and a nice trophy.

So when's the next one?

Ah, the sound of a Viffer...

Finally got the Viffer back in running condition Monday night. Got the valve inspection, oil change, thermostat replaced, and headlight relay replacement finished Sunday, then did the Throttle Body sync (Thank you Gary!) Monday evening.

Took her home that evening in place of the ST1300 and wow, I'd forgotten how SMOOOTH that V4 is! not to mention that slight (I think I need Staintunes...) exhaust note. Pure heroin I tell you, truely addictive.

Now I've got to decide if I want to take the ST1300 or the VFR for my first Saddle Sore 1000 in a week or so

How to spend Easter weekend as a geek

• First, volunteer to do the video for the Texas Conference Pathfinder Camporee like you have for the past seven years.
  
• Drive for 4hrs with $15,000+ in equipment in a SUV.
  
• Spend the next hour getting everything setup.
  
• Shoot people setting camp up
  
• play Ghost Recon while waiting for more people to show up
  
• capture the video and stay up till 2400 editing
  
• get up at 0600 and start filming people
  
• repeat till dark
  
• edit till 0100
  
• prompt fellow editor to work on his section
  
• while editing, crash the editing suite, thus rendering your computer useless
  
• fight with computer and finally break out the backup machine
  
• get up at 0600 and film more people
  
• escape the rain and go back to editing
  
• fight with the backup machine
  
• prompt fellow editor to work on his section
  
• get it finished and show to the people who were brave enough to stick around
  
• pack up and drive home at 0100
  
• marvel at 1" of snow on the road between Caldwell and Waco
  
• arrive home at 0530 and promptly go to bed
  
• repeat as seen fit
  

Homeshow was great!

SWAT Homeshow was Saturday night. I was pleasantly surprised that it came off as well as it did.

Spent all of last week working on various things for it. Had the regular practice every day, shot video Tuesday through Thursday evenings, then I was up till almost 3AM Friday morning editing.

Friday afternoon was spent setting up and rehearsing for the show.

Saturday, I adjusted the length of a song and showed up for final setup at 5PM.
Had a bit of trouble getting all the videos from the other editor, but it all worked out. Now if they hadn't been in 1080i HD my system wouldn't have had trouble playing it . My system plays it fine, but when you are trying to compress it down to fit on a 800x600 screen its a bit slower.

The gymnastics part of the show went off really well. 95% of everything hit and thats a lot more then I was expecting due to a lack of focus in some of the team.

Looking back, it would have been very nice to have someone run the lights/sound/videos instead of having myself do all that, try to run a couple cameras and perform as well, but it really worked very well and really wasn't a problem.

Now if I could get a chance, I'll start editing the video from Homeshow and get it put on a DVD.

Finally, progress

Spent a couple hours last night working on the Viffer. Got the valve shims and buckets all changed out and in place, cams back on and tight. The best feeling of the night? turning the engine over and getting that wonderful feeling of it working properly!

Now if I can get some time to do the thermostat, shift lever seal, headlight relay, and the oil change, I'll get it back on the road! Having been with out the Viffer for a month, its high time to get it back!

Clarification

Mimosa is my schools annual formal banquet.
This year it was held in a ballroom of the Gaylord Texan

Mimosa, a recap

Decided to go to Mimosa last night, so I paid my $30 and off I went. Dressed as a Ninja.
The brother and a fellow gymnastics teammate were also dressed as Ninjas.

After walking in from the parking garage (I'm not paying Valet when I'm going stag!) and getting many interesting stares, looks, and comments, we finally made it to the ballroom. Of course we ran up the down escalators, cause thats what Ninjas do.
Upon attempting to enter the banquet, we were asked to wait, pending arrival of someone to approve our "disruptive" attire. We pressed the issue a bit and were allowed in.
Tables are set for groups of couples so it makes it a bit interesting when you're alone and I wound up at a nearly empty table in the corner, no worries, its easier to observe prey, I mean, people, from the corner then the center of the room.

Entertainment was a bit on the sparse side, but may have been ok if I'd had a date. But then I heard more then one person commenting that they would have rather spent the $60 to take a date some other place.
Food was ok, but I guess I'm just not uppity enough, too fancy for me.

All in all, a decent evening, but a note of reference for myself: NEVER go solo unless being paid or specifically with a group of friends and y'all are sitting together.

Ninja Pic

Here's what I have for the moment




More to come

Different bikes are fun!

Thursday a bunch of us were up in Dallas and a friend and brought his '01 Triumph 600TT up for use in a drama we were doing. Well he didn't want to ride it home in the dark and "cold" so I got elected to ride it home.
I was presently surprised to find that I wasn't in sever pain when I got home. my bum was quite happy. Shoulders were a bit sore on arrival, but I think that was mostly do to the immense amount of tumbling I'd done the day before on a hard surface.
Oh, that little fairing doesn't do jack. I'll happily take my VFR over that bike. Not to say that I wouldn't love one for track days though!

Friday my brother acquired a '95 Yamaha Virago 1100. He's been wanting a bike for awhile and since the one he was riding ('86 XV250) was a loaner and the owner took it back, he's REALLY been wanting one. He found this one for pretty cheap and in pretty good condition. Needs the carbs adjusted, but thats to be expected for a 12yo bike.
Since he botched his left ankle at the show Thursday night, I got elected to ride it home.
I've never ridden a cruiser so this was a new experience for me.
The seat needs to be a few inches back so I'm not leaned back, and the pegs need to be less forward. Guess I'm not prime for a cruiser huh?
Riding that bike makes me look good though, in the 10mi ride home, I drug both feet and slid the back tire twice. Yeah, I like more clearance and sticky tires.

At the risk of sounding like Squeaky, who's going to let me ride their bike next?

"I'm an evil tumbling ninja!"

This upcoming week myself and eight other members of my gymnastics team are going to be participating in the Just Claim It prayer conference in Dallas.

We are going to be performing various acrobatic, tumbling and trampoline stunts for the dramas.
Last night we finally (its a long story) got our outfits that we are going to be wearing. Full ninja outfits. so there's nine of us running around on the stage in totally black outfits being scary demons.

During a break in our rehearsal last night, Nirva, the lone female in our troup, piped up in this hilarious tone that you'd have to hear to understand and said "I'm an evil tumbling ninja!" we just about died laughing at her.

I do have to admit that its a heck of a lot of fun running around in those outfits. We even contemplated going to Wal-Mart and seeing how long it would take to get thrown out. Better judgment, lack of interest in an arrest record and the call of the bed at 0100 pervaded and we didn't go.

I'll have to get some pics of us in the outfits and post them up

Corteo

Corteo means cortege in Italian which in turn is a funeral procession. It also just happens to be the name of the most recent Cirque Du Soleil production to grace Dallas.

If you’ve never seen Cirque, your are missing out my friend.
A literal translation give Cirque Du Soleil to mean Circus of the Sun. So you might get the idea that its a circus. It is, but its so much more then just a circus. Comparing Cirque to Barnum & Bailey isn’t even close to fair for B&B. Well I guess I should say that if your not a gymnast or interested in gymnastics type things, then you may enjoy B&B just as well.

Cirque is essentially a gymnastics extravaganza coupled with great live music, an intriguing story, brilliant costumes. All combined to make a very interesting and awe inspiring production.

My family and I went to the show Tuesday evening, had a great time, and enjoyed the show. Got some crazy ideas to try for the gymnastics team and I’m sure we annoyed the folks in front of us by continually commenting on what they were doing form more then the typical “ooh, ahh” perspective.

As Cirque show’s go, it rocked, but didn’t quite stack up to the level of Vareki (which I saw live last year) and Quidom. Still 100% worth every penny.

Mountain Biking

Mom, on a whim the other day, decided that for her birth day she wanted to spend more time as a family. and that to do this we were going to go mountain biking.
so she bought us all mountain bikes. Now, let me remind you that we aren't exactly a small family. Mom, Dad, myself and three younger brothers. Thats SIX bikes.

Got them all loaded into the truck and we headed out to the state park for their first ride. well, the brothers had taken theirs onto the land and messed around on them for awhile. the rest of us hadn't had ours out yet. something about work, school and kiddos.

Hit the trails around 1130 on Saturday. Got everybody on their steeds and away we went. the first trail we took wasn't all that complex. involved a few tight spots between trees, but nothing horrible.
Pulling back onto the road, mom's chain broke. now this is the first time that bikes been ridden and, no offense, but mom isn't exactly a powerhouse. Nor was she changing gears while really cranking on the pedals. it just snapped. To say the least she was frustrated. But decided to call it (not like there was any other option). She had to leave in a few minutes anyway for a prior appointment.
Getting back I discovered that I'd run over a nice 1" thorn with the front tire. reach down to pull it out and the tire starts going flat. the thorn was holding air. so I stick it back in and continue on riding. Its still holding air this morning (Monday)

The rest of us took a longer trail after mom left. took a couple spills but nothing that damaged (seriously) the rider or bike.

Took a tiny break after that one then hit the trail again. This time dad's chain broke on a down hill. please note that mom's and dad's bikes are the same brand and model of bikes. Oddly enough, my brothers and mine are all the same brand, but different models.
Anyway, we kept riding while dad walked back to the truck.

Had a great time, but man am I outta shape for that stuff! and I'm not entirely convinced that clip on pedals are such a great idea on a MTB...

Whats with all the Birthdays?

not that its a bad thing, but there's been a whole heck of a lot of BD's lately.

Becca's was earlier this week.
Shayla's was Thursday
Bekah's was yesterday
Mom's is today, as well as Hunkin's
Brothers and cousin's are in 10days and my roommates is the day after that!

Happy Birth Day to the whole mess of you!

Flippin' Awesome!

Had a good weekend.

Friday the gymnastics team, myself included, headed off to a small academy and performed our show for them. Its the first show of the semester and our routines need some, ok a LOT, of polish. but the kids really enjoyed the show and were happy to have us there. I spent a bit of time performing, read: showing off, on the trampoline during the show. I believe it was captured on film so I"ll have to track that down and stick it online for y'all to see.

Friday evening our team held vespers for them. Did a great job and the kids came away saying they were blessed.

The coach, the bus driver and myself got to stay in a school sponsors guest house. Much to the chagrin of the team who stayed on the over-full dorm's lobby floor. The bus driver is my old coach and also coached the current coach when he was in college. We wound up acting like a trio of girls and sitting up till 1AM and swapping stories and eating ice cream. The tales we were telling were quite a bit different then I would expect from a similar gathering of females. Politics, guns, gymnastics, family, food were just a few of the subjects that were covered.

Saturday morning we got up around 0830 and headed to Sabbath School that the team (it was all my brother in this instance) lead out. Again the kids enjoyed it and came away blessed. Many gave us hugs and thanked us for coming.
The bus had to be back in town for another school function so we skipped church, ate lunch and headed home.

To shorten the trip home, I called my friends in GA. it helped but I was quite sick of the bus after 3.5hrs.

Landed back here about 1545. Got the equipment all unloaded and I landed at the apt around 1630.

Sat around not doing a whole lot till about 1800 when I met a friend and another couple for a trip to the FTW Stock Show and Rodeo. I didn't think far enough in advance and the Rodeo was sold out so we wandered the stock buildings looking at a bunch of horses.

Hit On The Border for some grub, stuffed ourselves silly, got a free brownie ice cream thingy (which is huge, but mighty tasty) for an upcoming birth day, (which reminds me, I still need to find a costume for that party...)
then headed home.
I normally hate waiting for a train, but it makes for some nice talking time!

had a great weekend and the weather is looking wonderful for the rest of the week!

Cirque

If you've never seen Cirque Du Soleil, your missing out.

Cirque is bringing their Corteo show to Dallas Feb 9 - Mar 11.

Those of you in Houston get the pleasure of seeing it as well. but you'll have to look up your own dates.

Their shows aren't cheap, but they are worth every penny.