Thanks for all the info, Andy. It does look like fun. And the photos you posted are terrific. I need to get in gear and learn about the camera I FINALLY got before even considering a drone. Remember those discussions from MONTHS ago?! I did wind up with the Olympus OMD EM5 Mark III.
Thats good to hear Sandi! Get out and get snapping loads and you'll soon familiarise yourself with it. If you want to get to grips with manual mode look up the 'exposure triangle'. Is actually really easy once you get your head around it. Learn to read a histogram too, your camera will have one. Always better to under expose than over expose as its near impossible to recover highlights but easy to get detail out of the shadows. Especially if you shoot in RAW format.
I went for a solo ride on my Street Glide Special this afternoon and it was a glorious day! After three straight days of rain, the sun was shining, the skies were brilliant blue with big, white puffy clouds, and everything felt and smelled clean and fresh. And that last part is no small thing when you live in the dusty desert. My simple little rideout turned special when my thoughts turned to contemplative. I was just riding along and feeling very "in the moment" when I thought about today's date--July 26th. Then I remembered Mr. Sandi mentioning this morning that August 1st is coming up on Sunday. That's when it hit me that as of one year ago today I still hadn't yet returned to riding a motorcycle after my bicycle crash. The date that I first got back on a bike (my Speed Triple RS) was August 1st, 2020. And that's when it really hit me how lucky and blessed and grateful I am to be healthy and (mostly) healed and able to ride my motorcycles again. I don't and won't ever take riding for granted after having been unable to ride for seven months. Riding is one of the things in my life that brings me great joy. I know that there are many who, for one reason or another, are no longer able to ride. And someday I will be one of them. So until that day arrives I intend to appreciate each ride, each adventure, and each day, knowing that all good things in this earthly life must come to an end. I've always thought it would be cool to stop in each of these two locations to snap some photos but always figured, "nah, I'll stop another time". Well, related to all my navel-gazing, today was that "another time"! The first photo is on the road that leads to Saddlebrook, a master-planned community to the north of Tucson about 25 miles. Saddlebrook is a staple shortie (and usually solo) ride for me and about which I've posted before. The second photo is at a golf cart crossing on the circular road around the perimeter of the community. That's the Santa Catalina Mountains in the distance in both pics.
Well today I sold my TZR 125 Sorry to let it go but thumbs and wrists not suited to that type of riding anymore. So now hopping for a miracle and hopping to find a cheap old British bike project.
Early morning run out to Wiltshire to make up for yesterday's crap weather. Salisbury Plain and Tidworth Garrison - lovely empty roads. The barracks are all named for battles in the Indian and Afghanistan campaigns. This one is Jellalabad.
Seems there's lots of battles going on in Afghanistan right now. I feel really sorry for the ordinary folk over there, it's decades since they could lead a peaceful life. Dare I say it ? Yes I will, it's time Pakistan stopped running the Taliban and stopped stripping Afghanistan of all it's minerals and wealth.
This morning I met up with my friend and boss (the same person ) and we did a lovely ride up to one of my favorite breakfast joints, the Oracle Patio Café. It has been months since the two of us had ridden together and we had a great time. The weather was wonderful--all the rains we've had this past month (more again last night!) have cooled down our summer temperatures considerably. The plants and trees have greened up and there were Mexican Golden Poppies blanketing the sides and in the medians of the roads for much of the route. We met up at the QT (QuikTrip) near the Harley-Davidson dealership which is about midway between where each of us lives. Just as we were about to depart the gas station, my friend's aunt called her from Germany and she needed to take the call. I learned something new about my friend today--she speaks German quite fluently! I opted for my Low Rider S today as I knew my friend would be on her H-D Sportster Superlow 1200T. Tomorrow it's Speedy's turn to take a spin. We elected to ride to the Oracle Patio Cafe because we both love the place and the ride to get there is beautiful and about the right distance for the time we had available. Yesterday I got a text from another riding buddy informing me that he'd read that the cafe will be close on August 2nd (Monday) for a couple of weeks so everyone can take a vacation break. Usually there are a lot of bikes and bikers at the cafe in addition to our group but this was the lone motorcycle today. I hadn't been to the cafe for a couple of months or so and in the interim they've made numerous changes. Outdoors they've added more covered seating areas and installed a mister system to keep patrons cool(er). Indoors where there used to be additional restaurant seating, the entire place is a market. One of the employees had told me weeks and weeks ago that they'd probably never go back to having indoor seating even after the pandemic was over but I didn't really take him seriously. Well, today I found out what they decided to do instead of making the restaurant an indoor and outdoor place. We both agreed that we need to come back up here to have more time to really look around the market area. They have a lot of local products including food items and jewelry. The mannequin heads were a bit creepy and funny at the same time. But I loved the painting of the front of the cafe. My breakfast was delicious...as usual. I chose one of the two special quiche offerings accompanied by a strawberry peach scone and fresh fruit. And coffee. At the checkout counter there's a case with lots of yummy-looking bakery items of all sorts. The cafe is also known for pies and generally has half a dozen types for sale on any given day. I love the sign that says "Pie Fixes Everything". We chatted for nearly two hours and when we went back out to our bikes for the ride home, the skies had changed considerably. There was a small threat of rain all the way home but for the most part the skies were beautiful with lots of huge thunderheads sitting over the mountains. But being a little wary because of all the times we were caught in the rain on our recent week-long trip coupled with this past July being the wettest on record in southern Arizona, we didn't dilly-dally getting our butts in the saddles and heading south back to Tucson. How lucky I have a boss who is my friend....AND who loves motorcycles and riding, too!
Headed over to Donegal for the 3rd time in as many weeks. Went up to Malin head, the most northerly point of Ireland. Beautiful roads and scenery on the way up but when I got there I made a swift U-turn! Too much people Not my scene at all! 2 mile down the road was fine though Met some nice English folk on the Lough Foyle ferry, they were here for the Armoy road races and one of them had exceptional taste, he was riding a new superduke in black
Made an exhaust baffle from scrap laying round the garage. My exhaust is as quiet as the standard pipe, but a bit too loud without the baffle. Was going to drill holes in my original baffle but thought I may as well try to make one first. Took me good half a day but quite happy with the results, its not perfectly neat but its not bad for a joiner . The original baffle has a bit of 40mm pipe, I made mine with 50mm and just been out a run... its sounding perfect I'll pull it out again and paint it black
Our weekly Sunday ride group was small but mighty this morning. There was a request to ride up Mt. Lemmon and everyone agreed that was a great idea. I'd not been up the mountain since our major monsoon storms of the past several weeks and the Santa Catalina Mountains were more green than I've seen them in years! Many folks had the same idea about going up Mt. Lemmon today whether on motorcycles, bicycles, or in cars or trucks. That's very common in the summer since the temperatures on top of the mountain are usually 20ºF or more cooler than in Tucson. But fortunately it seemed that many were going down the mountain as we were going up (motorcycles and bicycles) or they were going up the mountain when we were heading down (cars and trucks). We had breakfast at The Iron Door, one of only two restaurants at the summit. The Iron Door is our current favorite mostly because of its lovely lattice-covered deck overlooking the ski runs. Breakfast is good but not great and you pay for the view and the cool temperatures which is really ok with me when it's dry and hot down on the desert floor. In the first photo you can see the fire damage to some of the trees from last years Bighorn Fire. My bike is the orange Harley in the foreground of this photo. He was next in the queue for a ride so today was his day. This is the interior of The Iron Door. In the winter they usually have a lovely fire going in that big fireplace and there's often a fair amount of snow and accompanying cold temperatures. We rarely ride up Mt. Lemmon between November and about March-April--because of that snow and those temperatures! My breakfast today which is called the Black Forest Breakfast--two eggs as you like them (mine were over medium), bratwurst, hash browns, and strudel. My strudel was blueberry--rhubarb. There are about half a dozen hummingbird feeders placed along the outer edge of the deck. I was able to catch this little guy in a photo but he was moving so fast that the image quality isn't so hot. On the way down we have a routine stopping point at a lookout called Seven Cataracts. There's lots of space for the bikes and the views are spectacular. I couldn't get a shot of it with my iPhone but there is currently a very long waterfall tucked back in one of the canyons that is visible from the parking area. Today the ride was composed of three women and two men. I think this was the only time I've ever ridden in mixed company where the women outnumbered the men! Bike-wise we had two Harleys (my Street Glide Special and a Sportster Custom), a Kawasaki Ninja 400, and Indian Scout, and a Triumph Thruxton. My 2020 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special. This bike handles exceptionally well, especially for a big, heavy bike and even on a technical mountain route. And the gorgeous views from Seven Cataracts which is at about Milepost 9. The ride up Mt. Lemmon is 25 miles. The road off to the right is the one we just rode down. Photos simply do not capture the grandeur of this route which is beloved by bikers, cyclists, and motorists alike. And there are just as many hikers and campers. There's even fishing at a little lake around Milepost 20. Mr. Sandi didn't go today as he was feeling a bit under the weather. I think that's a reason we may need to ride up Mt; Lemmon again next Sunday!
If you get weather like I did last week Steve it’ll be a blinder. Ride safe, looking forward to the report
Believe me, @Ducatitotriumph, I know. But it's always good to have reminders and remember to remain grateful every day!
