Awesome...

flying Jetman!

Yves Rossy has achieved his dream of human powered flight and this was one of his best ones.

He has done pioneering work and the technology he applies is just mind boggling, from cutting edge composites for the wing to ultra lightweight turbine engines for thrust and the control systems. Truly a modern marvel of technology and mind.

Once again proving that nothing is impossible once you set your mind to the task. Although one wold think he has nerves of steel this is what he said the day before when he called off the flight...

"I have a knot in my body, sorry for that. I’m human."

Misha... the trapeze artist

This is what I found when I walked in after work... Misha the Trapeze Artist busy taking down the laundry!



She is L's kitten that was raised from barely eyes open stage... abandoned by her mother we think, but even though she is small for 6 months old she is one bundle of energy...
By the way... this is a cat that 2 days ago had to go to the vet for two wounds in her side... not sure what happened but we suspect it was either from clambering somehere impossible or getting roughhoused by Myoo accidentally... she may be small but is not afraid to have very rough wrestling matches with the other cats.
By the way... most of the clutter on the floor is some form of Misha plaything...
Must say I am surprised at how well she is taking the antibiotics though... the other 3 are impossible to give any form of pill... last time I tried I almost ended up in ICU like this fella!

"A cat is more intelligent than people believe, and can be taught any crime."
-Mark Twain Notebook, 1895

A picture speaks a thousand words... a video speaks to the heart.

Thanks to Rather be riding... I'll leave you with this thought...Be a Dream Ranger!
We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving. And we all have some power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing. Louisa May Alcott

Tasted a dragon lately?

Being somewhat adventurous when it comes to food I saw these in Checkers yesterday...

Dragon Fruit or Pitaya... and when I opened it up we had this! Tasted a bit like Kiwi with a smattering of Prickly Pear!

Being epiphytic they are grown on top of posts as in this picture from the ABC Rural site...

Here one can see that inside they resemble their cousin prickly pears, almost the same shade of purple/red that the better known Cactus have but with smaller seeds. One peels them just the same and not like pineapples as the lady in Checkers mentioned though...

So would I buy them again? At R59 per Kg they are expensive but I think for that special occasion where you want to add striking colour or texture there is nothing to beat a slice of Dragon Fruit... it contrasts very well with Kiwi by the way.
Now I can also say I know what Dragons Fruit tastes like.
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. St Basil

Back in the saddle

Last time we rode this road MD and me had some "Boulder" trouble, well since then Mitchell's pass has been fixed and the ride home was more like a highway trip down the mountain... but not boring at all, it still took concentration around the curves. This time it was a solo ride back to Bloem and apart from the wind quite uneventful, fortunately the trick of sticking a knee into the gale does help.
Will do some backposts with pics we took, hopefully my blogging will pick up again in 2010.

Back in the Saddle - Aerosmith
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again

Ridin' into town alone
By the light of the moon
I'm looking for ol Sukie Jones
She crazy horse saloon
Barkeep gimme a drink
That's when she caught my eye
She turned to give me a wink
That make a grown man cry

Come easy, go easy
All right until the rising sun
I'm calling all the shots tonight
I'm like a loaded gun
Peelin' off my boots and chaps
I'm saddle sore
Four bits gets you time in the racks
I scream for more
Fools' gold out of their mines
The girls are soaking wet
Not tounge's drier than mine
I'll come when I get back

I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm riding, I'm loading up my pistol
I'm riding, I really got a fistful
I'm riding, I'm shining up my saddle
I'm riding, this snake is gonna rattle


Ridin' high
Ridin' high
Ridin' high already

"Life is just a chance to grow a soul."
A. Powell Davies:

Moonrise over the Maloti

Today I had to go and sort out a small problem and on the way back I just had to stop and take pictures of the full moon rising over the Maloti mountains... here is the picture as well as some of the others I took earlier the day...
The moon caught rising over the Maluti (or Maloti as some pronounce it in these parts) Mountains just outside Clarens on the way to Fouriesburg, taken on the way back from our other campus at Qwaqwa.

Fortunately the clouds dispersed when it was time to leave... I had not packed the rainsuit!

The dirt road to Kestell over the mountain... will be explored one day...

Shadows falling over the mountains of Golden Gate...
The trip was highlighted by me being able to test the new HID light and I can say it works well... just near Tweespruit some cattle had wandered onto the roadside and I was able to see them clearly... with lesser lights I would have seen them a lot later... maybe too late.
"Beauty is a form of genius--is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon."
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

Ja well, hasta la Vista baby...

This Rockwood is very funny in the light of what is happening over in Richmond at Microsoft... Sales of all their software seems not to be meeting expected targets world wide... I wonder if Ubuntu may have had a hand in that as well as the unwillingness of users to move over to Vista with the resultant hardware expenses that it entails? Sometimes it pays to listen to what the customer wants and not what you think he needs... Long live the Penguin!
I have recently bought an Asus Eee PC, running Linux on a 2 Gig solid state disk! I can surf the net, connect via Skype, get E-mail, do spreadsheets, run presentations and write letters... what more do you need if you are an Adventure junkie like me? The neat part is that the little machine weighs less than 1kg with it's mains power supply! Ideal to take on bike trips too.

Had fun using it as a digital jukebox as well, plug in my USB external drive and all my music can be played as well. Will be taking it with us on our Argentina Adventure as well... Come to think of it, this baby has more power than the first Mainframe I worked on... amazing...
"Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons." Unknown, Popular Mechanics, March 1949

Happy Birthday Shrek

Shrek the KLR650 that is... today is the anniversary of me saying, "The Green one is mine!" and signing on the dotted line...
So around 11AM MD popped around to my office and we took a coffee break... then we decided to take Shrek for a Birthday Ride to Hoopstad to visit friends of MD's.
First thing was to but on the tankbag and pop the warm gear in the topbox and fetch MD... when I arrived she was already ATGATTed.

Did not take any pics on the way but what we did next made up for that, here we are about to go Offroad in a diffrent way!

The combine is a factory on wheels, with all the latest data gathering electronics, here we are being shown how much yield the particular stretch of maize is giving, this information is then used with soil samples to determine next seasons nutrient dose.

The business end...

First of two loads we saw ofloaded in the run across the field...

Taking a break before the next run... yeah... parts of the dirt road to the farm looked like this field track... but we beat the Sand Monster.

Off into the sunset goes the Monster...

Then we saw the momma of all tractors!

Showing MD the controls and GPS assisted computer guidance system... similar to that on a cruise missile... but being used to literaly guide the plough... all the operator has to do is drive it to a particular field, do the first row, set the system and wait for it to finish the back row to turn it around again. All this with a 10mm precision. The newer ones do the turning around as well I hear... who needs a driver!

Shrek patiently waiting for us to finish guzzling coffee, tart and flapjacks! Typical Free State Platteland hospitality!

And by the time we got to Bultfontein it was getting dark... arrived back home just after seven after a wonderful ride and visit. Nice way to celebrate 12 months with Shrek!
Wow... what an amazing twelve months this has been, not without it's sorrows but nothing unsurmountable, just like when you hid a rough spot while riding you apply some power, the same way when life had rough spots we were able to draw on God's power and make it to the other side... it would have been a much less rewarding trip without His guiding hand I believe.
"For believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and greatest enjoyment is - to live dangerously."
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)
This is my WD label... for all my future bike blogs.

Don't cry for me Argentina

Wow... our reservations have been made... My passport application has been done... Missing ones have been found...
We are on our way to Argentina!
What was an idea a few months ago is now gaining momentum.
Now we just have to figure out what to do in the week at our disposal... Patagonia is a tad far and we are thinking of the Iguassu falls... so we can also say we saw what Indiana Jones saw!
Moon Dancer is booked to deliver a talk on tick resistance when she attends the TTP6 conference... then we have a week to explore, hoping to get a bike trip into the planning as well. I will be scouting Buenos Aires while she is kept busy with ticks...
We should also remember these wise words, but I think as bikers we should be able to travel light...
Will keep everyone posted as the planning etc. progresses.
"He who would travel happily must travel light."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944)

Dirt Riding is like being a disciple

Dirt riding has 3 maxims or Commandments, being.
Stand Up
Look Up
Open Up

Today's sermon had a similar theme in that we as Christians should make sure our focus is always on God and not on circumstances. As a someone that has just recently become a dirt rider proper I felt a lot of similarities between learning to ride dirt and learning to trust God and not my own strenght.
The first being to Stand up, we have to stand up for Jesus while at the same time standing on the Word and all it's promises. He will never fail us nor will He let us go. God has us in His hands. On a Bike one stands to use your body mass as a counter weight for faster,safer and more efficient cornering as well as better control, balance and a better view ahead. When we stand on God's word we gain similar advantages.
Then we have to Look up to change our focus so that we do not become target fixated on circumstance while letting the Holy Spirit scan ahead for us and help us to visualize the line we should take and then trust God in showing us the best line to take. This verse "let our eyes look straight ahead, fix our gaze directly before you" Proverbs 4:25, applies to both biking and Christianity, you go where you focus!
Then we should Open up... to others and to God, let God know our fears and dreams while at the same time telling others about what He has done for us. Giving God all the glory for all that happens as well. Opening up like this empowers us the same way a bike is thrust froward by opening up the throttle, driving it over rough patches, up inclines and through thick sand and mud that would otherwise bog it down. With God's power on tap nothing can make us fall and life's crisis es are so much easier to bear, on a bike opening up can also shorten the suspense in an hectic situation... the same goes when we open up to God in prayer and repentance... the load that is lifted in both cases can be a huge relief.
However this is where bikes and Christianity part ways metaphorically speaking... on a bike too much throttle can lead to a spectacular crash while once we entrust our lives to God he will never leave us in the lurch no matter how hard we fall.
Come to think of it, I never realised what an adventure it is to be a Christian!
"To endure oneself may be the hardest task in the universe. You cannot hire a wise man or any other intellect to solve it for you. There's no writ of inquest or calling of witness to provide answers. No servant or disciple can dress the wound. You dress it yourself or continue bleeding for all to see."
Frank Herbert (1920 - 1986)

Welcome to the Iron Butt club...

Once again we did over 2000 kilos in a week... to say our bums are numb is an understatement... that being said we had an amazing seven days break and had a good time getting in touch with family again.
Rain gear in Smithfield... and all the way to Sheppie.

The bridge over the Orange River at night...

Umdlodi... at last a decent Java.

Full Moon...

Waning Moon the next evening...

Cormorant drying it's wings on the rocks...

Ballito and more coffee...

Argyle Arms... do not let the cover of a book fool you... a warm bed and good food for the weary travelers.
The Berg...

The Tree... reminds me of two other trees... One being the Easter Tree... the other was one I wrote a poem about. Putting it up down below...

Lichens pass from the other end...

Red mountains... and mountainous clouds... Moondancer taking in the view from the edge...

Almost home...
Here is the poem, not meant to be pretty but fitting with what we as Christians believe;
The Tattered Tree

The smell of Semtex frightens even the vultures.
The horror of shreds of bone and sinew hang in the tattered trees.
Inglorious, unjust, incomprehensible inhumanity.
How can one justify gaining freedom by making victims
out of the very people you claim to be standing for?

Time is supposed to fade the memory,
but today it seared my mind again just like that day!
Today another tribe is claiming to be a savior,
more evil than before they slaughter kith and kin.
They claim to be of divine ordination.

When will those blinded by worldly rights become aware...
that the condescending stance is but a weakness in the eyes of
those that contemplate the downfall of the very freedom that these rights ensconce?
That these rights are used as weapons to tear themselves asunder.

How many more of these tattered trees must humanity endure?
What must be done for peace to endure?
Then I remember another tattered Tree with it's unbearable load.
That's when I sink to my knees and pray...
This Easter once more I realized how much we have to strive to live up to the example that was show to us on that Tree... Love one another as I love you...
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Welcome back Stiff

Shaun and Radek at the welcome back do at BORC after their epic trip from England on KTM 640's. They had us worried while being "up the creek" in on the Congo river for 5 weeks!
The bikes look in pretty good shape for a trip all the way from England to South Africa. I was amazed how little wear the front discs had... obviously braking was not an option... flat out all the way!
All I can say is well done guys, going out there and following your dreams is so inspiring to us all.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T. S. Eliot

By the seat of our pants

The route... Hoggies to Seymour via Mitchell's pass...
The mountain with a heart... just for US!

The pass goes down there.....
Getting ready to mount up for the next stop... one of many for various reasons as well!
Now where did the road go, this looks like the Roof of Africa!
A short while later on a really bad patch we got to test our ATTGAT gear... after getting out from under the bike, dusting ourselves off and checking that all parts both on us and the bike worked we decided to roll the bike over a bad patch...
A noob off roader... seasoned off roaders would have hurtled down here flat out... it did get better later on as I got the hang of gunning it through obstacles... I have more confidence in my gear after dropping Shrek three times... or was it four! So a fall would not be too bad as I kept the speed pretty low, using lower gears to brake downhill and to scoot out of slippery bits. I am getting better at this dirt stuff but without the proper gear it would have been very painful.
Here one can see the busted clutch lever from the last "drop"... need to add that to my carry on spares next time.
and here is a KLR solution... use a tool as a spare part. (axle spanner lever) It works pretty well by the way.
a Much needed respite from a very hot and sweaty decent.
From here the road re-appeared and was quite fun to ride, we decided to return to Hoggies via Fort Beaufort and Alice. I was not up to facing more of this type of road for one day.

Of course we were very glad that we had Guardian Angels looking over us, we will be more carefull next time as I think they worked overtime this trip!
"Remember that nobody will ever get ahead of you as long as he is kicking you in the seat of the pants." Walter Winchell (1897 - 1972)