Monday, February 20, 2012
Back in Mexico City
Didn't take too many pictures today (Sunday). Route was Taxco - Malinalco - Tres Marias - Mexico. Ready to do this again. I'd rent again from Oscar at Mexico Motorcycle Adventures www.mxmotoadv.com - he delivered and picked up the bike, and it ran flawlessly.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Ride Something (tm)
Side bags? No thanks, just a top case. How will I squeeze between Volkswagens if I'm three feet wide? GPS? No thanks. Too easy. I'm not in a hurry anyway so I'm not worried about being lost. Note to self. When meeting someone early on a weekend, change your alarm setting from weekdays only. Oops. Mexico City traffic... It's there even at 8 a.m. Saturdays. Luckily there are not any traffic rules so it was easy to get through traffic and out of town. I wish I could have taken a thousand more pictures today. It took a while to get through Cuernavaca but the rest of the trip was on good roads through mountainous countryside. Made it to Taxco early this afternoon and got a room and secure parking at the Hotel Agua Escondida. Perfect weather, nice town, but it's on the side of a mountain so my feet are sore from walking all afternoon. Going out for dinner and a cerveza, then I'll plan tomorrow's route and hit the sack. Happy birthday MotoBum. I'll try to remember to raise a glass for you.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Mexico!
7:40 am flight to Houston. Exit row seat, yay. Didn't have enough time to prepare so no movie to watch. Listening to Gameface. Good.
Above the clouds where it is sunny. Won't get to Mexico D.F. until after 8. Hoping for good BBQ in Houston.
Now Band of Horses. Infinite Arms. Now Kevn Kinney and the Golden Palominos. A Good Country Mile.
From Houston I will contact Oscar and tell him yes, thanks, I'll take the V-Strom for two days. The only thing that may hold me up is the fact that I need to configure a VPN and zone based firewall at the office tomorrow. Never done a zone based firewall on a Cisco router before, so let's hope I get it going tomorrow. I guess I could ride Saturday and then Sunday morning and still have a good chunk of Sunday to work if I need to.
For those who are worried about me riding in Mexico solo, I've decided to take the route with the most little towns and paved roads. I won't get stuck out in the wilderness with a broken bike or leg. No Internet on this plane so this will get posted from planet Houston.
Harlon's BBQ was terrible.
Above the clouds where it is sunny. Won't get to Mexico D.F. until after 8. Hoping for good BBQ in Houston.
Now Band of Horses. Infinite Arms. Now Kevn Kinney and the Golden Palominos. A Good Country Mile.
From Houston I will contact Oscar and tell him yes, thanks, I'll take the V-Strom for two days. The only thing that may hold me up is the fact that I need to configure a VPN and zone based firewall at the office tomorrow. Never done a zone based firewall on a Cisco router before, so let's hope I get it going tomorrow. I guess I could ride Saturday and then Sunday morning and still have a good chunk of Sunday to work if I need to.
For those who are worried about me riding in Mexico solo, I've decided to take the route with the most little towns and paved roads. I won't get stuck out in the wilderness with a broken bike or leg. No Internet on this plane so this will get posted from planet Houston.
Harlon's BBQ was terrible.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Vids for Content
Graham Jarvis A Training Day In Winter
Snake Eyes French Fries by Jason Lee Parry and Gandja Monteiro
Joy Ride: a short film by Sandro (NikonUSA)
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Tahuya... Happy New Year
The Dirty Crew got together for another fabulous day of riding dirt bikes in the dirt at Tahuya State Forest on January 1, 2012. They wanted to start the year off right.
Special Guest Star Ruthie went along for her second outing. Again, she rode the TDC Honda XR250R. Ghostface KLR had spent an entire day doing maintenance on it the day prior. With a broken decompression cable and a throttle cable operating with only three strands remaining, Ruthie once again proved that riding dirt bikes is the most fun one can have while still wearing pants. She crashed only once while navigating a slippery rock/root/gravel/corner situation while practicing her proper Shane-Watts-style of using the twistgrip like a doorknob. It didn't work.
E-rock hadn't ridden in a while. His arms instantly went to jello for the first 15 minutes of the ride. Then, miraculously, were fine. His WR250F stalled out in deep water twice. The first time he was able to roll through to dry ground. The second one was due to ATV riders blocking the high-ground, leaving E-rock little choice but to take to deep water. What is up with ATV riders anyway?
MotoBum got off line on one section of trail and got his left leg pinned between an embankment and his trusty WR250F. He was laughing too hard to flag-down Swamp Monster for help, but was able to free himself once the laughing subsided. Later, he got the wind knocked out of him as he clipped a fallen tree sticking out into the trial with his chest. Feeling a bit beat up, he attempted to self-medicate by consuming two fish-bowl margaritas at dinner. It worked. But E-rock had to help him with the second one, which was probably a good thing for the interior of Ghostface KLR's truck as it ended-up not getting barfed on.
Ghostface KLR continues to love his Gas Gas EC300. It's been detuned enough now to be fun and "ridable." MotoBum rode it for a minute and swore it off for life. It still has way too much power. Swamp Monster rode it and loved it. Now he's obsessed with getting one of his own. The low weight and low seat height just work well for some people. Ghostface KLR loves his bike so much that he launched off his favorite jump without spotting the landing, landed in a large puddle, and rode the second half of the ride soaking wet. He couldn't wait to get his pants off.
Swamp Monster captured some video with his helmet-mounted GoPro camera... after his CRF250X started, that is. It actually started on the second long push this time (exhausting MotoBum in the process). It won't initially start from the kickstarter or the push-button anymore. Swamp Monster thinks it might be time to check the valves and rebuild the carburetor... shortly before putting it on craigslist in order to fund-raise for his own Gas Gas.
The 24.4 mile short route taken:
Download this track (.gpx format)
2012: The First Ride video
Ruthie Contemplates "The Ravine"
MotoBum Eats a Cookie
Door On Speed
Special Guest Star Ruthie went along for her second outing. Again, she rode the TDC Honda XR250R. Ghostface KLR had spent an entire day doing maintenance on it the day prior. With a broken decompression cable and a throttle cable operating with only three strands remaining, Ruthie once again proved that riding dirt bikes is the most fun one can have while still wearing pants. She crashed only once while navigating a slippery rock/root/gravel/corner situation while practicing her proper Shane-Watts-style of using the twistgrip like a doorknob. It didn't work.
E-rock hadn't ridden in a while. His arms instantly went to jello for the first 15 minutes of the ride. Then, miraculously, were fine. His WR250F stalled out in deep water twice. The first time he was able to roll through to dry ground. The second one was due to ATV riders blocking the high-ground, leaving E-rock little choice but to take to deep water. What is up with ATV riders anyway?
MotoBum got off line on one section of trail and got his left leg pinned between an embankment and his trusty WR250F. He was laughing too hard to flag-down Swamp Monster for help, but was able to free himself once the laughing subsided. Later, he got the wind knocked out of him as he clipped a fallen tree sticking out into the trial with his chest. Feeling a bit beat up, he attempted to self-medicate by consuming two fish-bowl margaritas at dinner. It worked. But E-rock had to help him with the second one, which was probably a good thing for the interior of Ghostface KLR's truck as it ended-up not getting barfed on.
Ghostface KLR continues to love his Gas Gas EC300. It's been detuned enough now to be fun and "ridable." MotoBum rode it for a minute and swore it off for life. It still has way too much power. Swamp Monster rode it and loved it. Now he's obsessed with getting one of his own. The low weight and low seat height just work well for some people. Ghostface KLR loves his bike so much that he launched off his favorite jump without spotting the landing, landed in a large puddle, and rode the second half of the ride soaking wet. He couldn't wait to get his pants off.
Swamp Monster captured some video with his helmet-mounted GoPro camera... after his CRF250X started, that is. It actually started on the second long push this time (exhausting MotoBum in the process). It won't initially start from the kickstarter or the push-button anymore. Swamp Monster thinks it might be time to check the valves and rebuild the carburetor... shortly before putting it on craigslist in order to fund-raise for his own Gas Gas.
The 24.4 mile short route taken:
Download this track (.gpx format)
2012: The First Ride video
Ruthie Contemplates "The Ravine"
MotoBum Eats a Cookie
Door On Speed
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Tahuya... with Special Guest Star
Swamp Monster and Ghostface KLR rode dirt bikes on Sunday with TDC Special Guest Star Ruthie. She did well. So did the dudes.
Special Guest Star Ruthie had the distinct pleasure of riding the unstoppable TDC XR250R. Ghostface KLR is quoted stating "I was damn impressed with how well she did for her first dirt bike ride ever. We took her down some fairly tough trails and she kept making it over everything. She was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. Never once did she not make it over any nasty roots. It was impressive."
In addition to the usual extremely sick, tight, and twisty single track that is usually ridden on a hardcore TDC Tahuya ride, a dirt road straight section was encountered. Swamp Monster's CRF250X actually hit a GPS-verified 63 mph -- a first for that Honda.
Here are the tracks that got laid.
Download this track (.gpx format)
Special Guest Star Ruthie had the distinct pleasure of riding the unstoppable TDC XR250R. Ghostface KLR is quoted stating "I was damn impressed with how well she did for her first dirt bike ride ever. We took her down some fairly tough trails and she kept making it over everything. She was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. Never once did she not make it over any nasty roots. It was impressive."
In addition to the usual extremely sick, tight, and twisty single track that is usually ridden on a hardcore TDC Tahuya ride, a dirt road straight section was encountered. Swamp Monster's CRF250X actually hit a GPS-verified 63 mph -- a first for that Honda.
Here are the tracks that got laid.
Download this track (.gpx format)
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Tahuya... More GPS Tracks
On December 4, 2011, Swamp Monster, Ghostface KLR, and MotoBum hit the trails of Tahuya State Forest for more dirt bike riding fun.
Ghostface KLR's Gas Gas EC300 proved once again to have as much power on the trails as a Honda CBR900RR with a pipe, carb mods, and a big-bore kit. His ride was supposedly easier to control with the freshly installed G2 Throttle Cam System 400. It wasn't. MotoBum test rode the bike down Randy's Water Stop. After 30 feet he stopped, handed the machine back, and said "yeah, that's awesome."
Swamp Monster sat out the last bit of the ride after getting a bit banged-up on the leg during a near-crash. He was resting in the truck when The Man (law enforcement official) showed up to issue the $99 fine for not having a Washington State Discovery Pass displayed. He tried to sweet-talk The Man out of issuing the mandatory enforcement fine. It didn't work.
MotoBum almost became Swamp Monster II during the final leg. A piece of lumber floating in a deep, long, puddle washed out the front end of his WR250F, throwing him down to the left. The piece of lumber had been ridden over no less than three times on this ride. Having taken him by surprise, he fell down... but only onto an embankment and not under water. He got up. He backed out of the deep water. He started the thing. He rode.
Here are the GPS tracks from the first leg of this ride.
Download this track (.gpx format)
Ghostface KLR's Gas Gas EC300 proved once again to have as much power on the trails as a Honda CBR900RR with a pipe, carb mods, and a big-bore kit. His ride was supposedly easier to control with the freshly installed G2 Throttle Cam System 400. It wasn't. MotoBum test rode the bike down Randy's Water Stop. After 30 feet he stopped, handed the machine back, and said "yeah, that's awesome."
Swamp Monster sat out the last bit of the ride after getting a bit banged-up on the leg during a near-crash. He was resting in the truck when The Man (law enforcement official) showed up to issue the $99 fine for not having a Washington State Discovery Pass displayed. He tried to sweet-talk The Man out of issuing the mandatory enforcement fine. It didn't work.
MotoBum almost became Swamp Monster II during the final leg. A piece of lumber floating in a deep, long, puddle washed out the front end of his WR250F, throwing him down to the left. The piece of lumber had been ridden over no less than three times on this ride. Having taken him by surprise, he fell down... but only onto an embankment and not under water. He got up. He backed out of the deep water. He started the thing. He rode.
Here are the GPS tracks from the first leg of this ride.
Download this track (.gpx format)
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Rusty Nipples
Nipple_0747
Originally uploaded by groader
The decision to re-spoke the wheels for the '74 Triumph T100R has been made. I was hoping they wouldn't need it. I removed the 30+ year old tires and tubes to find rust and corrosion (of conformity) all over the spoke nipples and inner rim. Dang.
Other than the extra time and money powder coating the rims and buying new spokes the project is going well.
Pictures of freshly painted parts ready for assembly are in the Flickr set.
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