I went riding yesterday, and my goal was to push the envelope of my skills. I want to get lower on my lean angles in turns, and the only way to do that, is with practice and pushing it just a little bit each time. It felt pretty good, and I did get lower on those lean angles. I don't have any footage of that, because I was wearing the new helmet. That thing just slices through the wind. There is almost no wind buffing unless there is a strong headwind, and then it is still minimal. I'm going to work on a review video for that helmet next week. I should have that ready for the Sunday Post.
I did get some artsy looking pictures yesterday when I was out. This first one was limited because someone saw me turn into the empty lot where I took it and decided to park right next to me. It bugged me to no end. They were sitting across the road looking at the water and when they saw me, they pulled in and came right over to my little section. I still managed to get a pretty good shot though.
Like I said, I got a little artsy with them, and wanted to show off the helmet a little. All in all, it was a great ride except for one tiny little thing. After I took those first 2 pictures above, I headed down a very long, straight, and empty road. I don't know if you've noticed in my videos, but I have a small disco ball hanging from my front windscreen. I found something out yesterday. At speeds exceeding 120 mph, that disco ball will not hold on. It started waving around violently at 120 and then finally bailed at 126. I briefly caught it between my arm and the gas tank, but as I slowed down and tried to release the handlebar to grab it, it took it's final journey to the asphalt. I'll miss that little disco ball. Good news though, I have 5 more of them, so the new disco ball is already in place. Lesson learned. If I feel like going fast, take the disco ball off first.
Earlier this week, and something I forgot to tell you about, I joined a Kickstarter campaign for 121c Boards. They are a skateboard company that I've mentioned before. I was part of their last Kickstarter for their last skateboard, with was called the Rover. It is a smiler skateboard that is better for the every person to ride. The new board, is one that I've been waiting for for a very long time. Actually I wanted this board before I bought their Aileron board, which is a slightly bigger board meant for hard riding. This new one is their long board called the Afterburner.
I don't just like t his company because they make really cool skate boards made from carbon fiber. That is pretty cool on it's own, but what they do is upcycle carbon fiber from a rocket program the would normally just throw the scraps out. They repurpose all of this scrap material and make skateboards out of it, and not just that. The plastic coating that the carbon fiber comes in, is compressed and recycled as well. Here is a link to their Kickstarter. At there very least, take a look at the video on their page and see what they are all about. They are a very worthwhile company that deserves support in any way you can give it, but if they aren't up your alley, go check out other projects on Kickstarter, you may find something you like.
One last thing for you tonight. I wanted to give you an Elie update. She is doing marvelous. If I didn't know any better, I would swear that she was ready to start running and jumping around. I went and saw her today, so that I could take her to the site of the accident. The location was more than half way to her house. She wasn't that far from home. After looking at the location, I think even less about the guy that hit her. There is absolutely no reason for him to not have seen her. It wasn't a four way intersection, there was no median to cause a big separation, and where he was turning from, he would have been looking directly at her when he made the decision to accelerate directly into her. He was turning from the inside line which was right next to her lane of oncoming traffic. She only had enough time to swerve slightly before he rammed into her. In a way, that little swerve alone, did a great deal to save her life, otherwise he would have hit her head on. He was in a normal pick up truck, his quick acceleration lifted the front of his truck up, which is how her bike ended up underneath of it. As I said before, she was fortunate to have been knocked clear of her bike. If she hadn't been, she would have been pinned underneath the truck with the bike, and her injuries would have been far greater. Sometimes the only thing you can do, is attempt to lessen the damage, and that is exactly what she did. There was no other way to survive that accident, outside of superpowers, that would give you the ability to jump off the bike at the exact right time. Even then, it would have only lessened the damage. In that scenario, she would have jumped onto the hood of the truck and possibly gone through the window. Doesn't sound like a much better result does it?
Things are getting back to normal around here after the storm, and I head back to work tomorrow. I found out that my work got power back on Friday evening, and everything appears to be ready to go. It will be good to be back at work, even though I did slightly enjoy my unscheduled weeks vacation. I did get some things done around the house that I normally would have put off until I just couldn't stand not doing them. Oh, I do have one last thing to tell you. I have decided to give the humane society one more week, and then I'm going to have to give up on Gypsy. If they don't contact me this week, then I doubt they are ever going to contact me. I do have contingency plans though. I've looked at some other dogs in the area. One of them is at the same location as Gypsy, so I'm not really confident that I can make that work either, because I've lost faith in the staff their. One is a boxer rescue in Melbourne, and the other two are in Titusville. Either location is not that far from me. There is one dog in particular that is standing out, because of her little bio. She seems to hit all the check marks for what I need and want. She is a little older, she is supposedly good with other dogs, and she has a tendency to be very loyal to her owner. There is also the fact that she likes taking long walks on a leash. That is something that I've always wanted in a dog, and hopefully, I can get her to run along with me while I ride the skate board. I have small dreams, what can I say. I'm not going to tell you any more than that until things are moving in a direction. That won't be until after next weekend though, so you'll hear more about it probably two Sundays from now. There is always the chance that the humane society will come through and I'll get that call I've been waiting for. If that is the case, you will hear about that, sooner. Until then, peace in and goodnight.
Love the pics of Saki. I absolutely agree with the crash assessment.
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