wednesday

NOTE: I went riding last week (WA/ID/MT) and over the next month (or six) I'll post some of the (many) hours of video waiting patiently to have the boring bits edited out. Please be patient - I'm efficient, not magic.

Waaaaay back in March I ordered a neat Dainese helmet for summer (very ventilated, as the Official Dainese CG Animation shows). Then the EC decided that one of the chemicals in the paint was now verboten and Dainese scrapped the ones that were already made and re-made them. So no new summer helmet for coho this summer.



The day after my birthday (yes, you've missed it) I got an email from Bram at the Dainese Store in Belgium (he's been very polite, apologetic and helpful as the delivery time kept slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future: first April, then June, then "are you sure you don't want to try a different color?" - delivery day always tantalizingly visible, but just out of reach) my hat is on its way (currently my Italian hemet has left Brussels and is now, for some reason, in Nottingham) and will be here just in time for autumn. I just had to have the yellow one, didn't I? The color code for gialla (say it with me, "g'Yalla") is 007, by the by. How cool is that?

Enjoy the video, I'll post a real picture when it comes.

tuesday

What is it with coho and those damn Three Wheelers?

Part III

(or so)

When I saw this on Wired.com* I thought it was cool, but it was the video on PopularScience.com* (thanks Thom!) that really wowed me.

It has everything:

• It's a reverse 3wheeler.
• It's technically a motorcycle.
• It's electric.
• The "scary" headfirst position also lengthens the wheelbase, increasing stability at speed.
• The "scary" headfirst riding position is much closer to flying than what is essentially the same position on a sportbike because the bike isn't in the way.
• It doesn't take up an entire parking space.
• It doesn't weigh 6614lbs.
• Regular street moto-gear would be inappropriate due to lack of belly and chest armor and built-in cup. Oh, boy! An excuse to buy more gear!

[*Most, but not all, of the commentors on both pages were idiots, more concerned with buying devices that help one survive a collision rather than learning how to avoid a collision. They are woefully underinformed and unfortunately outnumber us by several orders of magnitude.

Cactus, indeed.]

monday

canyons

To the best of my recollection, this is OR216, deep in cowboy country. What a beautiful day for a ride.

The soundtrack is from the anime series Cowboy Bebop ("Kaubôi bibappu"), which takes place mostly in outer space. The singer is 江原 正士 (a well-known Japanese voice actor) as Cowboy Andy, the nemesis of the series' hero, Spike.

魅惑のホースライディング
Miwaku no Horse Riding (The Lure of Horse Riding)

Words by ナベシン&ヨーコ (Nabeshin & Yoko)
Vocal: 江原 正士 (Ebara "Andy" Masashi)
Music: Yoko Kanno (The Seatbelts)
Transliteration: TenAJs

ore ga dare ga ka shittera ka?
dare ga itta ka shiranai ga
oh dare ni itta ga shiranai ga
ore no na wa Andy sa
cowboy no hat wo motsu otoko
dare no koto daga shiranai ga
oh. dare ni kiita ka wasuta ka
kizetsu shisou sono iroke ni
because sore wa kagami no naka no boku
nemurenai yomoarusa
(lonely night)
chotto hirune shisugi tadake dakedo
(lonely day)
omae wo never wasure yashinai
tokoro de omae wa dare. who are you?
(lyrics from the Yoko Kanno Database)

monday

I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten youso here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.

(That oughta hold ya little pishers for awhile.)

tuesday

Best argument I've yet encountered against Daytime Running Lights

for cars.

How is this safer?