HWY 221 ZRXOA Fall Rally Eureka Springs (09/24/10)

Following Neal back to Eureka Springs from Brushy's Corner after Roland's off.

Push Mountain Rd. ZRXOA Fall Rally Eureka Springs (09/23/10)

Push Mountain Rod. from HWY14 heading north, running it to just over the crest of the hill.

Ken Block - Gymkhana Part 3

Wow, just wow!  Go to YouTube and watch in hi-def if possible.

The Hulk - Universal Studios Orlando

What a ride!

I Love China

eBay levers

Crazy good for $30 levers for the pair!  Fit like a charm.

A tad dramatic...

Perhaps, but it does sum up how I feel right now. Even through the pain I feel like there is improvement in my range of motion and less "tightness" in my joint which was being caused by the thickened bursa. Might be too early to get my hopes up but I am trying to stay positive. The fact that I won't be immobilized for 6 weeks has gotten me excited enough to start looking towards the next Roadeo!

Happy Father's Day - Late

For all you Dads...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

I just couldn't stand not knowing what kind of shape the bike was in so I went up to the storage yard to take a look. I think several factors played into my advantage that kept damage to a minimum. Wreck happened at low speeds and we actually ended up in the entrance to a parking lot which has some upward slope to it which took some vertical out of the drop.

Front rim seems to have taken the worst of it as it must have "dug in" on the incline. Bottom of fork leg is scuffed.



2 of the 3 places the front fairing is scuffed. Bottom of radiator shroud is scuffed. Custom blinker is scuffed.



3 of 3 places the front fairing is scuffed.



Can is scuffed.



Bar end and lever on right side.



Left rearset looks bent and heelplate was sheared off.



Rear brake lever mangles and possibly the rearset bent.



The savior!



All in all I feel I got pretty lucky considering I was physically struck by the truck. Hopefully I can get the rear sets sorted before the rally and I'll deal with the other items afterwords.

Man Down, Man Down!

Got sideswiped by a pickup turning left off of a light. I was behind him as the light turned green and pulled into the right lane as soon as we cleared the intersection I pulled into the right lane. He decided he needed Taco Bueno and cut on me hard. Honestly, it happened so fast I didn't have a chance. I didn't even get a chance to check the bke but obviously it's not going on the trip. Doctor coming in, will update later.

Edited Account:

Got taken out today by a pickup truck at 11th and Delaware on the way home from work on my motorcycle. The truck in front of me, and myself, had just turned left onto 11th Street off of a redlight on Delaware coming south out of the TU campus. As soon as we cleared the intersection I moved into the right lane as I typically don't like to be behind pickups for sight-line issues. As I pulled next to him, my guess is that he decided to cut into one of the fast-food restaurants on the south side of the road as he cut hard from the left lane and tried to dart in the parking lot on the right, taking me out in the process. I had absolutely no time to react and was down before I could even begin to think about taking evasive maneuvers. By the time I got up and sorted myself out, someone had already called the ambulance and although I really didn't want to go to the hospital, Cindy insisted so I took a ride to the ER. By the time I was strapped into the ambulance, and the initial shock of the accident was wearing off, my shoulder was really starting to hurt and I my thoughts were that I might have broken/fractured my collar bone. X-Rays in the ER turned up negative so after 3.5 hrs in the ER I was released.

I never really got a chance to survey the bike at the scene as it was down on its right side and too close to the truck to pick up. I have no idea how bad the damage is but my guess is rashed right fairing, bent/broken right peg and bars and trashed exhaust can. Hopefully it is still rideable and I am going to try and retrieve it from the wrecker yard today. All in all I feel I came out of the incident in pretty good shape and hope to take a lesson from all of this. I want to be more upset with myself for not being able to avoid the situation but in running through the scenario over and over in my head, it was completely out of my control. The guy couldn't have done a better job of timing the sideswipe even if he was doing it intentionally. In any case, I'll keep you guys posted and thanks to everyone for the calls and well-wishes.

New Bars

Finally got around to installing my "new" bars on the Fizzy and am looking forward to seeing how they ride tomorrow. On Friday, I messed around with quite a few different mounting positions as I had some lower bar mounts and 3 different sets of bars laying around. It quickly became obvious that I didn't really want to go lower so after thinking on it for a couple of days, I mounted the flat drag bars after cutting 1/2" off of each end. Sitting on the bike it seems much more comfortable now with the bars at a more natural position. See comparison below.

For you dog lovers...

This is what I envision going through Milo and Bodie's heads when Dick or Brett comes over...

Bulldogged Akra

Well, I have to say this was a mod that went exceptionally well considering how little info I had on what was involved. I knew I wanted approximately 4 inches taken out of the can but that was about it. The process was fairly straight-forward with disassembly requiring no more than drilling the rivets out. Cutting the carbon fiber was so much easier than I thought it was going to be and was accomplished with a hacksaw with a new blade. While I had the can off, I hit the pipe with my buffing wheel and voila, I solved my pipe color issue as well! I took the rear pegs off and used a ZRX MikiMoto pipe hanger and it worked out just right. The aftermarket pipe hangers for the Fizzy come perpendicular off of the frame and don't really look good where the MikiMoto has a nice rear sweep that works well with the lines of the bike. The only minor drawbacks to the entire mod are the strap marks on the carbon fiber wrap from the stock mounting location. Hopefully the sun will take care of that over time. Thanks to Deek for pitching in and helping!

A Perfect Tuesday

What a beautiful day to grill a steak!

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Looking to get back into multiplayer online gaming, I've purchased Battlefield: Bad Company 2 at the suggestion of one of the draftsmen in the office. I have never really played war-sims so it has been a struggle getting up to speed. It is so unlike the FEAR2 clips I posted previously as you truly have to be concerned with taking fire from the enemy which really slows down the pace of the game. In any case, I have been having fun with it and am getting close to being familiar enough with the game to jump into online play. To me, The graphics are just stunning and I can't imagine where we will be in 5 more years with almost cinematic quality gameplay.

Randomness for Douglas

Reminds me of your "eye-picture" in Mountain View.

Yummy!

Between omelettes, barbecue and fresh-made salsa, I might have the goods to open up a restaurant, LOL!

TRON: Legacy

Be sure to watch in Hi-Def!

FEAR 2: Project Origins

Just messing around after installing FRAPS, a custom screen capture program, on my PC. This is the 2nd game in the series and is a horror-based, first person shooter. The supernatural stuff I encounter at the end of the clip is pretty creepy, especially late at night!

Hell yeah!

Powered Armor level in FEAR2: Project Origins. I am a god!

Missing my baby today...

Dick forwarded me a picture of my late Boxer Maggie and it got me thinking about her so I dug out my favorite picture of her and thought I would share.

Bling is in the air...

Had a visitor today and he was riding something green and shiny. Dick's "new" ZRX is definitely getting the "Frierson touch" and is really looking sweet!

When free wifi goes bad!

Ran across this clip today from a tech podcast I listen to regularly and it made me think of one of you more than the others! Enjoy.

Bad boys, bad boys...

Proud or shameful? You tell me!

Post Your Desktop

Here's mine! Been running Vista for a few years now with no issues and although I bought 3 licenses of Win7 when they had the sale on them upon initial release, I just can't warrant the upgrade right now consideing how great my machine runs. As a bonus, I posted another screencap of my basic computer specs.

Sapa Tatanka

Over the years I failed to document several cool vehicles I have owned, most notably a cherry 1974 Z-28 with a 4-speed Muncie and a 1986 Mustang SVO so I thought I would post a couple of pics of my 2000 Dodge Ram. Nothing extraordinary about her at all other than it represents the body style that "changed everything" in the world of trucks in America. I bought the truck from my brother in 2002 with less than 10K on the odo and she now has about 55K on the clock. The truck has been very reliable with the exception of the tranny which I had to have rebuilt because of issues that are well documented on the internet. I just got some Kumho Road Venture all-terrains mounted which I like very much and enjoy the "old school" look of tall, skinny, high profile tires. Like my ZRX, the truck is a great "15 foot" truck but any closer and you can see she's been kept outside the better part of a decade. I don't really put too much time and effort into keeping her spotless but I do use "Chuck's Tire-Foam" trick on the motor about twice a year and keep her cleaned up when the weather is nice. She has hauled a lot of rock and dirt, pulled her fair share of trailers and the 4-wheel drive has been invaluable here in the winters through ice and snow.

If only...

...I had an extra 10K! Having grown up in Europe from 1967-1972, I have always had a place in my heart for the early 70s euroboxes and hope to be able to have one at some point. This one looks to be a perfect start to something like the below!

NADA - Not Cars

I'm sure most of you are aware that my brother raises cattle in Arkansas but not that he has been very active in the North American Devon Association as they work to bring the Devon breed back to prominence. See below for a short blog he did for the NADA on "cattle as a commodity". Also, I have linked to his ranch's website if you care to read more.

NADA - Guest Blog

Fourche River Farm & Cattle Co.

I am so proud of what he and his wife are doing and the determination with which they are doing it. He was able to find financial success early in life and has used that to jump-start their dream and they are loving every minute of it! You go bro!

UFC 109

Looking forward to it tonight!

More Football Humor

Each year as the Superbowl approaches, I like to take the opportunity to share this gem with others who might appreciate it. Okay, it might not be as funny to you guys as it is to me but it is Sandler at his finest!

Adam Sandler - New Music - More Music Videos

My Hero - Peyton Manning

I suppose not everyone may appreciate the humor in this clip as you would have to be an NFL fan and familiar with Peyton Manning's personality, but if you where, it's good stuff!

Climb Dance

I swear I had posted this previously but looking back through the blog and in talking to Douglas I couldn't find that I had so if it is a repost, I apologize. This is Ari Vatenen's well documented climb up Pikes Peak in a Peugeot 405 T16 Group B rally car in 1989. There are no words to describe...

9:14

...is all I ask you devote to watching this video. Over the years I have enjoyed many types of racing but rally cars have always seemed to play a part in my life. I remember going to the department stores at Christmas as a kid and always gravitating to the "rally car" models although I had no real idea of what they were. A squatty Fiat with a tire strapped to its roof just seemed cool! X-Games gave World Rally cars a rebirth a few years ago and my access to media through the internet allowed me a conduit to footage that is not readily available in the states and I took advantage. This clip is Ari Vatanen in the Isle of Mann Manx Rally in 1983 and although it doesn't show the "Dear God" moment this rally is known for, it's the highest quality clip I could find. Enjoy...

Tulsa Snow

Well, we had quite a snowstorm over the past couple of days. About 8" here in midtown with most of it falling between noon and eight o'clock last night. We did have about a quarter of an inch of freezing rain overnight Thursday but were spared any significant damage here in Tulsa. We are at 14.1" of total snow accumulation for the season with 8.6" being average. Also, we typically get most of our snow in March so it could get interesting. Fortunately I got new tires on SapaTatanka(Black Buffalo) the day before the storm hit. I had four Kumho Road Venture ATs mounted, 315/75R16 for $850, and they have performed great in the snow.