Living Contentedly

The Sissy bar fit is not straightforward. The  brackets supplied fit the rear two holes (of three) on the chrome rear guard braces. As Ive already chopped the guard the brace is now too long, and the rear hole becomes unusable.  i have two options (i think). One is to open out the front hole to fit the first hole in the brace, then chop the overhanging piece flush with the guard. With the frontvhole dtretched amd the brace cut off, it would look a little untidy. Option two is to cut and shut the chrome braces. This is way tricky to work the curve accurately and leaves a  visual weld in the braces.  In the evening, I returned with a beer (I don't normally drink), which lubricated my creative cogs. I hit on the idea to use the brackets supplied and use the front section of the braces to cover a section of frame that's visible and looks ugly.    

At Merewether the bodysurfing was pretty ordinary, but the tide was out !?  As it happens I bought my bike down by the sea for security. Mmm, thinking. Ride it along the beach? Yep I knew after a couple of pedal shoves that she was sweet with it, so I rode the surf line from Merewether Beach to Glenrock Lagoon. Probably about 3-4k of sand and some rocky headland that expired a fat ebike. As far as I could go, then I turned away from the ocean and went onto the bush. I discovered the Burwood Trail. When I was really small we would drive with dad across Flaggy Creek, to his work in the office at Burwood Colliery. Memories.   Popping out by the creek crossing, now with a bridge and the road sealed, on to hook up with the Fernleigh Track. This is probably the most well known bike path in the Hunter. An old rail line once went along here to Burwood, Lambton B and John Darling collieries. I did my apprenticeship at Lambton B and knew the area well. But today I was h...

I've long thought a traverse of bsrrnngton tops, 120k Gloucester to Scone with 1500m elevation, would be epic.   So I planned a reccy: drive up with bike, camp, cycle about.  However on the appointed day, my son wanted to borrow my car. Plan B was to ride my motorcycle and camp and flyfish. Stopping at Dungog to check my luggage. Junction Pools car park. I had been going to Polblue, but turned off short to go to junction Pools. It sounded quieter and fishy. The road in was 4wd or trail bike only, and physically demanding.  As I arrived I had good news, there were trout, and bad news, I forgot matches and had bought steak and copious amounts of coffee. Well, the fishing proved difficult due to the number and variety of snags. Still, I'm in the mountains chasing trout right? I was cranky at myself, I love coffee and didn't want to waste a good steak. So I drove 60 or 80k back to Gloucester. There I bought matches and ginger beer and had a BBQ watchin...

Christened my new hand plane on a Pogos shore break.Managed a few tubes in pretty heavy conditions. I was hesistant about going out.  Did I see Micky Adams in the lineup? Couldn't be sure and I think he half recognised me too. Funny getting old. Today I re-realised how good being in the tube is. A second of cover looking out, then a savage rumble as you hoot and hollar with elation.  Lyric in my head: I got a new girl named Sheila, She goes bat shit on tequila .

Replacing the fuel tank necessitates finding another speedo ot remounting the original. I did buy one on FleaBay, but this presented two problems a) the one advertised for the VT750 turned out to be shaft drive, whereas the original is electric, and b) the array of warning lights cannot simply be ignored.  So, I was forced to make do and once again I am amazed at how creative Chopping Building becomes.  So yesterday I went looking for an antique canister to house the speedo. I forgot to take the dimensions note with me, and so it was a wasted trip.  But at home, I had an idea overnight to use a tin mug and found one, in black enamel! Today I dig out an unused luggage rack and sliced it up and set about shaping it to hold the mug off the frame below the forward end of the tank. Truthfully, I'd seen this fine on choppers, and loved the look.  Tomorrow (probably not if it gets to 40°C), I'll set two rivnuts in the bracket below the headstock and sort out the wiring....

With painted bits added she's coming along. Waiting on a sissy bar so I can mount up the tail lights.  Mostly thou  waiting on the carbs to get her running cleanly.  For today I will be happy to chop out the crankcase breathers. So it's off to TJ Brutal Customs on utoob again.   

exploitation as unfairly taking advantage of another person because of their vulnerable position, giving the exploiter the power. Workers forced to sell their labour to their bosses. Quotes, more or less, from Karl Mark. Yet his political analysis is classified as being antisocial by the ruling classes, and the notion of exploitation is typically lonlong  to those most exploited of humans, the political refugee.   Yet, as approachy senior years in life, I look back to recognise an economy based on exploitation of the majority in order for the overfeed minority, the Super Rich, to profit. Once such profits were more modest and widely kept behind closed doors, but in contemporary times it is flaunted about. Our dirty unwashed noses are forced to breathe the stench of unearned riches. 

Roughed out. tank (could be higher in front), seat, chopped guard and struts all establish the basic look.  Next is painting, fit sissy bar (which was ordered last night), and wire taillights.  Obstacle : speedo. Options are to buy a wireless/GPS speedo or use the original on a custom mount. Big Jobs Left are to refit the carbs and chop engine vent hoses.  Possibilities of Further Chopping are to fit a smaller headlight and fork extensions. 

Based on the crazy garbage coming out of Mr T's deranged mind I doubted.  He invaded Venezuela and threatland Greenland, turned a rabble militia against his own people, and I feared.  Government systems in America seems inert and bereft of ideas and motivations to arrest the fall.  Now I hear Congress with a high level of Republican support is enacting the War Act to halt Mr Ts war mongering and civil destruction and disobedience. I now have hope that things will improve. The downtrodden will be allowed to rise up.  Hope has returned and it feels great.   

I heard a mind altering podcast by a Chinese American one month ago. Grumpy, as he describes himself, portrayed the disparate economics of the two countries. America is a country run by oligarchs and billionaires where "trickle down economics" fails to provide basic welfare for all and workers are consigned to minimum wage and high prices at the market.  meanwhile China is ruled by the Chairman with a Communist bent for shared wealth and the policing against private wealth creation. Although wages are modest, market prices are very cheap. Everything from rice to real estate is very affordable and health care is universal and evenly accessible.  This obviously had me reflecting on Western existence, and if we ognoredcthis context and tried to imagine the symptoms that may be exhibited by a human being under extreme and chronic life stress. Here is a list that I developed:- Problems with obesity, addiction and self harm. Escapism through the overuse of alcohol and drugs (prescr...

Got new front lugs on. About 2" higher, 1" further aft than originals. Installed rivnut at the rear. Those buggers work to very fine tolerances, get it right they're sweet as bro!  Next   step is to fit the rear lights to the chopped mudguard before adding paint to "the tins" x5. That's two guards, two side covers and the tank. Next to next step it to drop her arse on the struts. There's no way I can fiddle I with the rear electric cables once she's dropped. 

ABC News must be scratching the bottom of the news barrel, the bit above Indigenous Issues anyway.  They're putting on the dog over a whistleblower allegation that a corporate owned coal minr, Dartbrook in the Hunter Valley, has been used to milk dry to the benefit of the parent company's other investments. How quaint. BTW, Dartbrook mine is on its last legs despite community efforts and probable financial bailouts by government. Lovely people, they're the ones driving flash cars and living by the coast who don't speak with neighbours and whose privately schooled children never get into trouble with the law.   Reference ABC News:  

That's the way the "news" article should have been titled. On his expose of AI Alan Koehler disclosed that he had searched for nude images of Queen Elizabeth I. 

Sunday: after yesterday's 60k ride on my new Krampus, On hoping to get some good chopping done today, like; wire taillights, (be good to paint the guard first vs dryfit before paint), fit guard, bolt seat, fit tank. Woohoo! 11am: TANK FAIL - well. after a few hours of jiggling and juggling I took a moment to measure the front take-off rubbers for the tank mount (old vs new) and can only conclude the Chinese manufacturing might is pretty pissweak. The new unit is a good centimetre narrower. If one forced the fit, you run the risk of splitting tank joins of chaff against the frame. In the long term this could lead to fuel leaks, fire, explosion even total loss of the bike and rider injury.  So, I'll have to make up new mounts, adding rivnuts onto the spine.  My trust in Chinese manufacturing is wavering, the speedo is the wrong type which I guess is really a problem in the sales and marketing section. But it is made and sold as being suitable for VT750. 

Only changes were replacing pedals, flat/cleat to flat, fit lights. Rpde MCR, Duns Ck to East Maitland. Bought a bike lock at Teds, then yoghurt, bananas, sparkling apple juice and Snickers for lunch. Coffee at Morpeth on the return.  Overall, the Krampus felt beastly, living up to it's name. Palm numbness, sore butt did arrive later, but mostly I was looking for the long way home.  . J   sheeps @largs morpeth, lean  aldi, banana & Snickers leaning

As Planet America continues to spiral out of control on an orbit only one individual knows, I've been reflecting on what lessons we can take from this.  As an optimistic leaning person, for many years I assumed that all people were essentially well meaning or could be won over by kindness. But time and again we bare witness to Trump being evil and nonresponsive to soft coaching.  I twigged to these traits in my exwife some years before. For many years, despite my support and encouragement of her, she consistently criticised and attacked me, and worse.  I'm more confident than ever, that the athletic and driven child, teen and young adult still exostsveithi  

I have a new Surly Krampus 29er. What's more, it fits.  It feels like my best ever bike from all my bikes over the years, only better. I want to honour this bike by riding it far. 

After yesterday's bit hectic day on the road, and it being wet, I determined to have a day about home.  For some reason l took to the digger, put the skinny bucket on and resumed digging the gutter down the top emptying into the dam. The only snag was having to clear out fairly large rocks, but that's easier with Digby. L did the job in two shifts, because I got hungry.  On one of my breaks I started work on a hand plane for body surfing. This way I can literarily "go surfing" with a shopping bag's worth of equipment. Besides, a good body surfing session can be had in poor conditions.  I poked around with chopping my Honda too. Speedo:  l got busy tracing the original wires and making a diagram before getting the new part out and realising it wasnt right. Advertised on EBay as suitable for VT750, the thing had a cable drive. I wrote them, but didn't hold my breath. Seat: the new seat has a sprung base and l had to do a Houdini escape from my old ways of thinki...

Not certain I've written about this before, but I have a dirty old secret. Way back in the 1970s I fell for chopper motorcycles.  Harley Davidson motorcycles have a monopoly but choppers can also be based on the British Triumph and various "metric" or Japanese makes. In my naive teenage years I fell for the CB750 four (cylinder) choppers that had a distinctive exhaust note. It was more an angry growl than a rumble. They were given the name of their rigid frame builder Sankee.   Twenty years ago you could have picked up one of these for a song, but now they're a lot more collectable.  In a wonderful coincidence I googled for an image of a Santee chopper and found this attached to a writeup of a fellow that fell in for thrcHobda chopper in the 1970s and was in the right mind in the 1990s to buy one, in need of restoration, for $250.  Reference: oz-bike mag.  . He's done the hard yards to present his bike like this, and added a few more dollars....

On headland south Boat Harbour, drinking coffee and runs from a tin and I feel absolutely fabulous. Surprised how gettongvthe billy out and making a brew can work wonders. What helps is; no crowds, cool seabreeze and this view.  I tried to surf OMB and it actually pretty good 2' but O was struggling to pick the spot, then Cuddy started barking and attracted unwanted attention so l left.   I then drove via Boat Harbour and found a shaded parking spot overlooking the sea. Not long after I snorkled in the rocky cove below. . The fishies were on holidays, but the play of light across crimson boulders and green and gold seagrasses, was enough to run my lithium ion battery up to 100%. And then I brewed up with that evocative Trangia smell, fed and watered Cuddy, sat on my chair and stared at the sea drinking coffee tuna, things only got better!  It didn't stop. The sea breeze eased and it got a bit smouldery, so I decided to hang longer. I rigged my flyrod and ...

With 40° forecast I was keen to get on to the coast. There would be no swell, so I thought a canoe paddle would be in order.  On the scene Cuddy the dog was vehemently opposed and  baled out twice, the second time he dived into the water and he hates swimming! I lashed him to the deck and gave him support. He worked at it but never settled and was a pain all day.  I actually really enjoyed it. Using a single paddle was a challenge to learn, but once I got it felt I had good control. I had an early lunch to help Cuddy settle. I packed a salad and cold can. I even used my folding chair, and felt pretty spesh. Afterwards, the NE kicked in, so we hugged  the beach  (Taylor's) heading north. Up in the mangroves I tied the canoe to stop it drifting and rigged my fly rod for the first time in twenty years or so. Using a weighted fly iscaxbit of a cheat, but casting into the wind is really testing, so to manage a half hours casting was a real win. No fishies w...

In a great cycle at the moment. I get up at 4am to clean and meditate which are often the same thing. The end result is rewarding as can be. This leads naturally onto breakfast and outside work.  In the garden I extended a pad near the greenhouse that gives me space to enjoy the garden and beyond. Thankfully yesterday's plantings have mostly survived despite the heat, vmore heat today, and even hotter the next two days.  Then it was off to my favorite beach. The crowd was awesome, all along the beach for three hundred metres it looked like one great beach umbrella. In fact there were dozens of gazebo sun shades and umbrellas, giving the appearance of one great Bedouin tent. There were no waves over 1 foot the entire time I was there, so I dropped my MR twinny under a tree, lashed the dog down and hit the water. Aah! So good, and I christened my Christmas boardies from Mia, and I love my French foreign legion hat. It actually allows me to spend more time in the water or even on...

Picked up some really sweet waves on perfect conditions. Even though there were bbBsigns of crowding potential, it was fine. Back at the car, a met as young couple parked next door, Tahishi and Ishi . A Japanese Australian and a visitor from Portugal. We all had a shock that if been to Portugal and walked the Camino. It was good to talk a tiny bit about my experiences. Ishi was keen to know if my quest was "spiritual" and whether of made any breakthroughs. They were both earnestly  pleased that I had. What sweet people. Sweet people yes, but it also has me wondering about this area's good vibes.  Feeling double blessed.

A phat 50k ride in 32° for my 65th birthday. Yeehaar Well I left home after breakfast, but I'm not sure if the time. Being my birthday, my daughter is, Mia called as I was about to leave and we spoke for a long time.  Anyway, may be at ten-ish I scooted down the hill and went up MCR. The traffic was light, and any traffic I did encounter were keen to give me plenty of room, so I gathered they were tourists. The locals are never keen to demonstrate courtesy on the road, and would rather blast you off into the scenery. I usually get buzzed once on a local ride. But not today.  Feeling lucky, I decided to take the main road to town. Being Saturday of a long weekend I was expecting light conditions and this was mostly true. Strangely, it would be really quiet and then a caravan of vehicles would come along. Which in a way is the worst case scenario, because it's not the first car that doesn't see cyclists, it's the second onwards. There were a few caravans in th...

I took a big leap forward today by ordering some chopper parts. 1. Struts to fix and lower the rear  2. Sprung seat to soften potholes on my back. 3. A peanut type dual tank 4. A Speedo to suit, and replace the old tank mounted unit.  Only a few hundred all up, but very yahhooey!!! this morning, as the surf was to rough I slow-jogged to bar beach and back, non stop and no heavy breathing. It was amazing that I only passed a handful of people on the sand while the promenade was chockers. Current trend is women with wafer thin, skin tight shorts. Many of them heavy legged but kind of fit. 

Walk : (0.6) 2: Driveway + (0.6) Slow-jog :(14.2) 2: Merewether to Bar rtn (3) 8 Letterbox ret. (3.2). 9 to creek over rail (4) 16 Mere, Ssn Glm & rtn (4) Ride : (150) 3: Mait & rtn (50) 17. E Maitd via Duns, ret via Morpeth (60) 22: mcrfs, pat loop. (18) 25: web Ck 4 b/fst (22) Other: 5 Surfing X 45 minutes 8 Paddling x 60 m in ylw canoe Weight Training (18) Cowbell 1-9 Dumbell 10, 11 1 2, 13, 15, 17, 21, 23, 24