Learning to fly

The fear of going airborne has been going away little by little.  The first time I did this jump I nearly ate dirt.  My shoes became unclipped and I was on my saddle hanging on the the bars and wondering how I managed to NOT crash.

But bit by bit, testing the jump.  I've started to feel the rush of getting a little air under my wheels and feeling the full suspension work as I hit the landing.  It's awesome.

This isn't a huge jump,  probably pushing it at 18 inches but big enough for the Adobo Chicken rider on that gamma radiated green bike.

It took me 6 jumps before I could get my phone to record the jump.  I did get the recording on my GoPro on the very first try.  I love the Hero Session. It's awesome.  I didn't bother connecting it to my phone to check the angle.  I just hoped for the best.  And  actually turned out great!  I was so lucky.

I was lucky too that I didn't damage my bike.  It was creaking a bit on the last 2 jumps. But thought it was dirt.  It was in fact that I lost a pivot nut on my not drive side.  You can see the pivot axle sticking out on the photo above.  Just below my water bottle.

On this one you can see the bearing. There's supposed to be a flat nut covering that hole.

I actually went down another run - Time Warp with a missing nut.
Usually I can handle that run quite easily, but my shoes clipped out on the rock section as I was getting up to speed.

Luckily I did not eat any trees.

Can't wait to get back!

Reliving our youth

Paul came back home to TO to visit.  What were we gonna do?  We all played tennis as teens.  So he brought his racket with him.
Not some crap China made racket.  But a Yonex.
That looks real.
No real PVC leather type deal.

I hadn't played tennis in years so I had to dig out my racket and shoes.  But I had just gone to the Rogers Cup to watch the women pros play and it had given me the urge to play like I used to play!

In my mind, I felt like I could still play at that level.
But I brought my GoPro out to see for myself the reality of our playing ability.

 Here's a few action shots of how good we still are.





I can't write what Derrick says after his return went out.
But you can read his lips in the video.





At least he is still able to avoid getting hit by my serve that was way wide.  Try serving after that, when you're laughing.

 

We are still as good as we used to be. Sort of.

sweet tooth birthday

It was my brother's birthday recently.
And his youngest wanted to make him a cake.
So she brought everything needed to make a 4 layer cake.

It turned out really good.
With some help from Tresa and her mom.
I was expecting the cake to be overly sweet.
But it was delicious!


I coulda ate a few slices, but we decided Lou should take the rest home.
Along with some dinner.
And fudge from Haliburton.
It was the best deal available at the time.