I went on a 290 mile ride Friday with some guys from work. We started off in Livermore, headed South and East along Mines Rd, then south on I5, through Hollister, South to Pinnacles National Monument, West through Gilroy, then back home. I was pretty sore after that much time on the bike. This ride led me to finally get the KLR I’ve been wanting (see previous post).

My new Moto. It’s a 2001 Kawasaki KLR650 DualSport. With a 6 gallon fuel tank, racks, and on/off road tires, I should be able to do some serious adventure riding!

I had a great time this weekend at Parmount’s Great America Amusement park. I never really have entertained the thought of going to one of these places, but the opportunity arose and it was free. So, off I went! A friend of a friend works at Lockhead-Martin, and they rented the park out pre-season for an employee appreciation day. Check out some videos we took of our wild rides!

Drop Zone
Skyflyer

These will probably require a high-speed connection.

click here

-> Don’t always live vicariously through others
-> Don’t put all your pennies away for “the day”
-> Don’t be the guy who says “when I retire I’m going to ….”
-> Don’t be the guy who looks back on his life and says “I wish I woulda”

Hey, you might get lucky. Things might be exactly as you planned them. Or, ?

Today I went for a 105 mile motorcycle road trip with my co-worker Garry. He has a really nice BMW R1200, and I’ve still got my trusty (uncomfortable) Yamaha Maxim. The trip was on the curviest roads I’ve ever ridden, through some rural areas south of Livermore. Most of the road was one lane. The weather was super nice; somewhere in the mid-seventies.

We stopped at the world-famous Mt. Hamilton Observatory and stretched. Very fun ride.

The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it. You might as well expect the rivers to run backwards as that any man who was born a free man should be contented when penned up and denied liberty to go where he pleases.

Chief Joseph
Nez Perce’
1830 – 1904

I have been taking professional banjo lessons for the past few weeks, and so far I’m having a great time with it. So far I play a mean “Skip to my Lou,” and my “Old McDonald’s Farm” is coming along quite well. It will be a while before I challenge anyone to dueling banjos. I’ve also started Contra dancing, which is a fun activity where I can hear good bluegrass music being played, and where my two left feet don’t stand out so badly.

I played my first real game of ultimate frisbee at Cal State last Saturday and fell in love with it! Anyone that knows me knows that my coordination for throwing/catching sports is very poor. Somehow I’m able to hold my own in this game. We’re playing again this Sunday, and hopefully will keep it up. I found a regular Saturday morning game on craigslist that I’m going to check out this weekend. Lucky enough, I was shopping at REI on Sunday and found this great “Life is Good” frisbee (regulation size/weight) on clearance! Wahoo!