MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE - MAY 1, 2015
Last Friday I was off work at noon so
Troubadour and I decided to go for a mountain bike ride in the afternoon. How could we resist when temperatures were in the mid 70's. We are lucky that minutes from our house are some great riding/hiking trails in
Fitton Green and
Bald Hill.
While I didn't get any pictures of the bikes, or us, I did manage a panoramic of the valley as well as a shot of the wild irises that are blooming.
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| (View of the Willamette Valley from the Fitton Green trail) |
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| (Wild Irises were blooming along the trail) |
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| (Troubadour calls this War and Peace - Irises among the Poison Oak) |
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| (A beautiful butterfly on a trail yield sign) |
THIS 'N' THAT
I still have a few shots from our Seattle trip that I wanted to share so I figured to just add them to this post.
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| (1973 Triumph X-75, for sale at the Euro Moto Show $12,500) |
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| (Vespa poster seen at the Euro Moto Show) |
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| (Troubadour on a Moto Guzzi) |
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| (Seattle Space Needle) |
One of the displays at the Seattle Center were the "Sonic Blooms" by
Dan Corson. To quote the display placard: "
5 flowers - 20 feet in diameter and up to 40 feet tall. In the playful context of the Seattle Center's festival grounds, 5 giant solar-energy generating flowers absorb the sun's energy and express it at night with dynamic LED lighting and in the daytime with a chorus of interactive harmonic tones triggered by by people's movement around each flower. The striped stalks are also massive barcodes that allow inquisitive types to decode the supersized puzzle."
We thought they were very cool. For more info visit this
LINK.
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| (Sonic Blooms) |
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| (Sonic Blooms) |
........and a few extra pictures from the LeMay visit to round out the 'this and that' theme of this post.
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| (1932 Packard 902 Super Eight Roadster Coupe) |
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| (1939 Packard Super Eight) |
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| (1930 Chrysler, 77 Series Roadster) |
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| (1912 International Model A Farm truck, 2 cyl, 2 speed, 14 hp) |
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| (1960 Rambler Station wagon with a Ferrari 360 Modena drive train) |
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| (1960 Rambler with Ferrari drive train) |
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| (1912 Standard Electric Open Tourer manufactured 1911 to 1915) |
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| (Complete with charging station) |
We were hoping to get out for a motorcycle ride this last weekend. The weather was beautiful and we couldn't imagine putting on all that gear when we really wanted to be in shorts and t-shirts. The shorts and t-shirts won; we did yard work instead.
This coming weekend we'll be out on two wheels. Troubadour is teaching range only so he'll be done at noon and I am planning on riding out to meet him. I'll bring him lunch and we can head off for parts unknown from there. Well, that is the plan anyway.
- Au Revoir
" If you cannot be a poem, be the poet." - David Carradine
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As usual, fabulous pics. :-)
ReplyDeleteI like the Willamette Valley shot. Interesting capture of the helicopters. And those irises are stunning. I think the sonic blooms, captured from a different angle, would be weird. Your shots had great angles and made them look really cool. I enjoyed the vehicle pics, too, especially your handsome T-man on the Moto Guzzi.
I hope your plans pan out. We opted for yard work and other house stuff last Sunday. But after such a long and fabulous ride on Saturday, it was okay. This weekend, Aunt Bertha is riding down on her Spyder -- her first solo road trip -- and we're going to show her all of our favorite local roads. Should be tons of fun. We're both excited. I look forward to seeing your pics.
Thank you Kathy.
DeleteThe helicopter looking things in the first picture is what happens when flies or other insects fly right in front of your camera while panning for a panoramic. At first I thought they were birds, but if you click on the pic and zoom in you can see their wings and antennae, lol.
Have fun with Aunt Bertha, good on her for her first solo trip. Have fun riding.
Nice collection of photos. I like the photo of the charging station. I had wondered how the electric cars were charged back then. And that Ferrari powered Rambler is pretty nice. I've seen a similar thing with Porsche turbo powered VW busses.
ReplyDeleteMuch to the chagrin of our neighbors, yard work is always at the bottom of the list.
Thank you Richard. I thought the charging station was pretty cool. To have the know-how that long ago I am surprised electric vehicles weren't developed a lot sooner than they were.
DeleteYou've seen our yard, it requires a lot of maintenance. The front beds hadn't ben weeded yet this year so the little rain combined with unseasonably warm weather had made for the grasses invading the beds and weeds too. It looks much better now. We won't discuss how the back yard looks.
ATGATT. To be fully dressed and not to ride. Motorcycling becomes a prison. And you are surrounded by such beauty. Life is annoying me at the moment and if I could not escape On two wheels I should shrivel up. Psychiatrists and motorcycles. Thirst and armor. Too many choices
ReplyDeleteYes, to me ATGATT is a double-edged sword. In the really warm weather we have mesh gear so it isn't as bulky but it isn't that warm yet. There was a time way back in the day when we'd ride with jeans and sneakers and just a jean jacket or leather jacket but I can't do that now.
DeleteMotorcycling is about assessing the risk and determining what level of risk you are willing to take. As I get older and heal slower I don't take as much risk with my body in the event I might crash. Instead I don 'full battle regalia' every time I ride. Even the three miles to work.
That Rambler is super fly! It's probably the super flying-est four-wheeled ride I've seen in a long time (and I never use expressions like "super fly").
ReplyDeleteA while back I read a blog post by Troubadour, I think: He was lamenting the marketing directions that Triumph was taking... Is he Guzzi-drooling these days?
That Rambler was something. So shiny it almost hurt too.
DeleteHubby isn't shopping for a new bike but that Guzzi was so pretty he couldn't resist taking a seat. Triumph is disappointing in how they are treating their dealers, but you'd still have to pry his Tiger's keys from his cold dead hand. He loves that bike above all others he has owned.
Some more great pics there! I like the looks of that Rambler too!
ReplyDeleteI think that Rambler might be one of their most popular displays.
Deletenice perspective shooting.....Troubadour looked too serious on the Guzzi....must be intimidating to his riding students! ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Dom. Every once in a while I try to get a little artsy.
DeleteI don't know if he is intimidating to students or not...we'll have to check with him.
Thanks for the photo of the beautiful Willamette Valley. We have those small blue irises in NE WI too. I don't know about this south central area, so, I haven't seen them in quite a while. Always a treat to see those little sweeties
ReplyDeleteThe butterfly is one of my favorites: Mourning Cloak.
Glad you enjoyed the pics.
DeleteThanks for the name of the butterfly, I had no idea what it was other than beautiful.
What a nice potpourri of photos! You are indeed fortunate to have so much nature practically at your doorstep. And those sonic blooms! So different and clever.
ReplyDeleteIt was a kind of hodgepodge of photos wasn't it?
DeleteWe are lucky. We've thought of moving, especially with a subdivision going in behind our house, but our location is too nice.
I like the flower photo. I also spent time in the garden this weekend instead of doing much riding, and I am teaching this weekend as well! Have fun!
ReplyDeleteIt must be a teaching kind of weekend. Is your weather also supposed to be in the high 70's?
DeleteLove the sonic blooms and will have to start paying attention re: the irises. They don't look like anything I've seen growing wild in the wood.
ReplyDeleteHave a great ride this weekend!!
The sonic blooms were very cool. We were surprised at how many people were taking pictures of just the stalks and not looking up to see how cool they were as a whole.
DeleteThe wild irises are neat because they are only about 6-8 inches tall. Quite short compared to the domestic ones.
We aren't too sure where we'll be riding this weekend, but I am sure we'll have fun - thank you.
Haven't made it to Fitton Green myself. I love seeing the wild irises bloom. Ah springtime!
ReplyDeleteSpringtime is lovely here. Allergies are early this year though, just as Spring was early.
DeleteYour photog work is supreme, I think moto foto is your true calling. I like that war and peace part, that's pretty good. One of my brothers lives in Seattle, did you know the space needle was erected for the worlds fair in 1962? I think it's all that's left from the huge display.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words. I like to find interesting angles when taking photographs of autos.
DeleteI've been to the top of the Space Needle only once (quite pricey) and they have a display up there about the exhibition. It is pretty neat.
Some fantastic rebuilt old cars in those photos. I love the first pic of the rolling hill sides. Beautiful Brandy.
ReplyDeleteThank you Steve. We are lucky enough to live in a beautiful valley.
DeleteI must say I'm impressed by the sheer audacity of someone building an electric car over 100 year ago. I suppose people probably travelled smaller distances. Nice photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks Theo.
DeleteI think if they had electric technology that long ago I am saddened that we don't have more efficient vehicles today.
Beautiful Pics Brandy! I always enjoy looking at your blog, it is a visual feast! The Guzzi looks pretty good with Brad sitting on it, will this be following you home at some point? I will have to take a pic of the giant flower sculptures we have here downtown, they look very similar in style to yours.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dar.
DeleteI dont' think hubby has any plans to bring a Guzzi home at any time in the future. He is pretty attached to Lucy.
I love the moth on the yield sign. What do you think, would the Packard hood ornament look good on a Tuscon?
ReplyDeleteThe moth was a good find. I rode by it and hubby noticed it. I think your Tucson would be an original with a Packard hood ornament on it.
DeleteAgain, a very eclectic selection of pictures. Love the photo with Brad on the Guzzi. That bike certainly becomes him!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was a hodge podge of pictures, but I had some catching up to do.
DeleteThose were some shiny cars ... I want a Packard hood ornament for on my VStar! (I also try to yield for butterflies and moths)
ReplyDeleteHmmm Tucson or V-Star - which one to put the Packard hood ornament? That is a very good question.
Deletelovely photos...haven't been here much lately (or any other blog-reading...) but I will be back for sure!
ReplyDelete