Streets of Willow Part 3

There are 2 things that no matter what time the alarm clock goes off for in the morning, when it does, I pop right out of bed and I am instantly awake. The 1st is going for a shark dive. The 2nd is a track day. So when the alarm went off at 3:30am on Friday morning, I was out of bed and dressed before my feet hit the floor. Randy aka "Mega" and I had the bikes loaded on the trailer and were on the road by 4am. Of course I then proceeded to sleep the 2 and a half hours all the way to Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, CA. Thanks for driving Mega. I’m sure my snoring kept an interesting conversation with you.

This was the 3rd time we have been to Streets, and I love it every time. The track does not have a lot of safety features. Off of the narrow pavement of the track is rocks and dirt. No grass, gravel pits or safety air fences. So if you go wide, you will be eating dirt and rocks and your bike will have seen better days. But Streets of Willow is such a tight twisty track, if you hold your line and dont go too hot into a corner, its not an issue. And if there was ever a track made for my Multistrada 620, this is it.

In the morning the weather was just about perfect for riding. Low 70s and sunny. Then around 10 or 11, the wind kicked in and destroyed Mega's Easy Up, along with countless others along pit row. We decided to leave the frame up and pretend to have shade.

As always CaliPhotography was there taking awesome shots again. I would truly love to shoot with Brian some day. So if youre reading this Brian, let me be your intern for a few track days.

Thru out the day, Mega and I were comparing lap times. I crushed him in the morning with a 1:38.8 lap time and he put up a 1:42.2. That seemed to light a fire under his ass and the next session he put up a 1:38.1 and got the fastest time of our group.

The next session Mega did a 1:37.8 and I did a 1:37.9. Foiled!

After that, the fine folks at Fastrack Riders decided to bump Mega up to level 2. Obviously they didn’t want me to show up the level 2 riders on my 620. =)

But I had the last laugh and on my last session I rode a 1:37.4 and got the fastest lap time between the two of us. Victory!

The Aftermath

Even though I love my bike, its not the ideal track bike. So when its on the track there are some consequences of its ground clearance and lack of rear sets. Here is what’s left of my brake pedal.

The pegs and elbow of the brake lever grind as well.

And for the first time I actually dragged my pipe

I had bought new toe sliders for the track. This is what was left after the first session.

And finally this is what’s left of my boot.

As always it was an awesome day, something I really needed. And cant wait for the next track day, whenever that might be

Back in the Water!

I cant believe I haven't been diving since August, but it has. So when I had the opportunity to go test regs with Scuba Lab again, I couldn't wait to get back in the neoprene.

For these tests we were extremely lucky and fortunate to be able to use the Body Glove boat the Disappearance. It is a beautiful boat and plenty of room for us get all of our testing done. Bob Meistrell ( one of the co-founders of Body Glove) was our Captain and host for the 2 days. He is an amazing man. 81 years young and still out everyday living life to the fullest and never short of a story to share with you.

The weather was perfect and the topside water conditions could not be better. However the diving conditions were not as good. But it didn't matter. I was just happy to be back in the water.

The water was a refreshing 57 degrees and visibility ranged from 3 feet to maybe 15 feet. With a lot of back scatter in the water. But since the focus was testing on gear, it was good enough for us to get everything done.

I had a few chances to shoot a little but not as much as I usually like to. But seeing 2 Pacific Angel Sharks and a few other critters made it a great day for me.

Kai came a long and actually took more pictures than I did. So I actually have some shots of me this time (not that its a good thing!)

Back in the saddle

Check....check.... Is this thing still on? Man it has been a long time since I have posted anything. And its not because I was out traveling the world and too busy to post. It has been quite the opposite. I have not been diving since August. And my bike was out of commission since December. So I literally had nothing to post about. Until now. I finally got my bike together and went for a ride this Saturday morning.

I wont go until what happened to my bike, its a long story. But in short. One part broke that caused several parts to break, a lost license plate and destroyed rear tire. So finally after replacing everything and putting it back together on this Friday. I couldn't wait to go out and get in a quick ride.

So on Saturday morning at the butt crack of dawn, the alarm went off. I slid out of bed, threw on my clothes, boots and jacket and headed over to meet up with Bruce. It was still dark enough outside that with my tint visor is was difficult to see. But by 645am we were already on our way up the 2 - Angeles Crest Highway. I didn't have my winter jacket with me, only my summer jacket. So I had on several layers on underneath and it was not nearly enough. It was fa-fa-fa-freeezing. But it was the best cold experience there is to have.

The best part of getting up that early is, we had the road to ourselves. Only had to pass 3 cars on the way up and all of them used the turn offs when they saw us coming. That was first. We rode all the way up the 2 to Newcomb Ranch Cafe, to warm up and have several cups of coffee and an egg sandwich.

Bruce was riding his Yamaha RZ350. That is a sweet bike. He takes great care of it and it looks and runs perfect. And its awesome to see a street bike with a kick start!

After hanging out for awhile and warming up, we started to head back down the hill. And on the way down, the traffic coming up had dramatically increased. Lines of cars and bikes behind them were seen the whole way down.

We pulled off at one look out, to enjoy the view. And we can still see snow on the sides of the road and off the distance across the valley.

It was a quick short ride. But one that I needed sooooo bad and felt so good to get back in the saddle and scrub in my new rear tire - Pirelli Rosso. Since it was new and this was my scrub in ride, I really didn't push it. But the grip I felt in the corners was really good and cant wait to put on my full leathers and really put the test to them and get some knees down.

Next weekend is diving - So another post is in the near future, and hopefully I will be posting consistently and with lots more pics.

Save The Blue

Looking to start your Christmas shopping early and help stop shark finning at the same time? Well look no further. Go to Save The Blue.Org, make a donation and get a very cool necklace or shirt. This is a great non profit organization with some great information and links. Check them out, make a donation and give the gift that keeps on giving.

My New Truck

(I wish)

Ducati teams up with Toyota and creates the almost perfect track day truck. I say almost because the perfect tract day truck should hold 2 bikes. But overlooking the one minor flaw, its pretty flippin sweet. Even comes with solar panels for all your onsite power needs. Now only if it came with the bike and an umbrella girl.

Happy Birthday Ethan

When the Empire tried to issue Ethan a Speeder Bike for his 5th Birthday, which was on Halloween. He flatly refused and being his father's son, he demanded an Imperial Ducati! Happy Birthday to the coolest 5 year old in the Galaxy!

The rest of the evening was spent collecting loot in the form of candy with his younger brother, who Ethan dubbed "Darth Baby"

Coral Spawn at the Flower Gardens

Once year since the beginning of time, the coral spawn after the full moon in August. Since I have been diving I have heard stories of divers who have dove the Flower Gardens during the Coral Spawn. I knew that this was something that I must see someday.

When Capt Frank from the MVSpree gave me a call and said they had an open spot in the galley for their annual and last coral spawn trip (The Spree is moving permanently to Key West next year). I couldn't book my flight fast enough.

Last time I was on the Spree I was filling tanks in the Dry Tortugas. This time I would be working in the galley helping out master cook Steve. It didn't matter what position was open, I wanted on the boat and I couldn't believe I finally had the opportunity to dive the spawn. And get paid to do so!

We arrived a few days before the spawn and I got to dive the Flower Gardens for the first time. For being in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and has been claimed by Texas as their own Caribbean Reef Diving, the diving was great. I saw a lot of the same species that I saw on my Caribbean trips. But with the exception I finally got to see my first Manta Ray! They are absolutely beautiful and graceful. And such a humbling experience to see something so large and peaceful underwater.

The coral usually spawn 7 or 8 nights after the full moon in August. The majority of the spawn will happen on one night. But one or two nights before, a few coral heads will spawn a little. But typically there will be one big night that all the coral spawn. Scientist are still learning about how they coordinate their yearly spawn. Each species will release their sperm and eggs at the different times.

Palomar Mountain

A few weekends ago Randy and I decided to do a day ride. Something neither one of us has done in a long time. Too long, if you ask me. Without giving it too much thought we decided to ride to Palomar Mountain and back.

It was a perfect day for riding. Not too hot in full leathers, and not too crowded despite being a Sunday. I brought along my camera with the intentions of really practicing my Motorcycle shots. Didnt happen. We had such a good pace going the whole day, that we never stopped to take pics.

However on East Grade road there are always photographers staked out on certain corners taking pictures and posting them for purchase. Here are some shots that they got of me and my trusty Multistrada

It was a great day and made both of us want to do another track day soon.