the voice of reason

"For a week I had an infinite amount of patience ... Maybe it was my great desire to return to racing with an important project. However, we can't go forward like this. We are not able to continue to pull along this heavy weight that ruins our image, and now Ball also understands this. It is not enough to advertise and show off models."

-Mario Cippollini on Rock Racing

two good movies

Since I only leave my house to ride my bike or get more coffee, I usually have no idea if there are any new movies worth watching. And since hollywood seems to be on the same page as the music industry, I just assume that there are not. I end up watching this and this over and over. However, this weekend I saw not one, but two really good flicks. Ratatouie, a cartoon about a french rat that cooks, and King of Kong, which is about the battle for the world record high score on Donkey Kong. Check em out.

No Nuts

Rode the fixed gear today for about an hour. Turned off the dirt road and headed east down a hill with a pretty good tailwind and managed to spin my nuts completely off. Once I got below 145 rpms I managed to slow down and snap a picture.

Skid for beer.

Here's a pretty awesome video of my friend Nat.

Enough with the sanding, what are you, mashuga?

Sanded the boat for the final time this morning. Now it's ready for the last coat of epoxy ont the bottom and sides.
I have been using a weenie roller to apply the epoxy but it keeps leaving tiny air bubbles. I think I'm gonna switch over to a foam brush for the last coat.

Wind

Some serious wind on the front range has forced me into the garage in the last couple days. I made some side rails for the boat, but I either need to get some faster drying epoxy or twice as many clamps. I also got some foam for my tool box so that all my tools don't end up clanking around the bottom every time I pick it up.

haiku

Put fiberglass on
The bottom and sides of the
Plywood cajun boat

25 degrees

Yep, pretty cold for a motorcycle ride, but it was pretty nice out and I didn't feel like riding the rollers inside. Got up to Livermore and then headed out to Red Feather Lakes- even with the vest and the grips on high it was still pretty cold. The only real problem was getting stuck behind two snow plows. Every time they hit any snow it left a mist in the air that immediately covered the faceshield of my helmet. I had to stop twice so I could clean it off and see again.

Also, tried out the spot. Seems to work. It will be nice to let Georgia know I'm ok when I'm out of cell range. Got some new speakers too, way better on the bike. Last time I did a big ride with headphones I had to keep them cranked to hear the music and they still fell out, so not only did I miss out on the music but I was deaf from the wind. The new ones are a huge improvement.

Which one is the gas?

Well, I was planning to go for a motorcycle ride today to scope out some dirt roads north of town, but due to the snow, no dice. I used the time to actually take the written test for my motorcycle liscense instead. Now, as someone who has been riding motorcycles since I was 10 or something, roughly TWENTY years, I would consider myself somewhat knowledgeable in the operation of said machines. I was wrong. I got three questions wrong, two of which were run of the mill DMV absurdities.The one that really got to me was about how the throttle works. There are admittedly some instances when I am accelerationally challenged, as anyone who has ever seen me ride a bicycle can attest, but on a motorcycle I like to think I have a pretty firm grasp on the function of the right grip. Now, I know what you're saying, "Dusty, you ride a frigging KLR 650, a bike on which twisting the throttle and turning off the choke have about the same effect." Yes, you would in fact be correct, there can sometimes a "lag time" between giving the bike more gas and any noticeable increase in velocity. HOWEVER, if any of you have ever had the experience of taking a 1982 Honda CR480 with a fresh top end and a DG pipe out on the street and whacking the throttle open in second gear while realizing that you only have poorly adjusted drum brakes to slow you down before you try to negotiate the left turn at the end of the block on worn out sand tires, then you too will never, ever, ever forget how to operate a motorcycle throttle.

Why is all new music crap?

I don't have an answer, but if you are in a band and you are not getting caught on tape smoking crack or playing like this, YOU HAVE FAILED!

never too cold

As Todd Carrier would say, FUCK YOU, COLD!

Just because it's the beginning of February and 35 degrees doesn't mean you cant get out for a nice 90mi motorcycle ride. One of these helps.