Roads and Oceans

Seafood

2009-12-11T10:44:00.000-08:00

Its been nearly two years since I have had seafood. For the last 5 or 6 years I have been cutting back but one day I decided not eat any seafood at all, ever again. The initial reason was all fish stock across the world are declining faster and faster and there is less than 10% of large predatory fish left since they estimated in 1960. But now we are finally learning that the fish that are left now have extremely high levels of mecrury.

There are lots of pocketsized seafood guides that tell you which fish are less harmful to the enviroment to eat. But what they dont tell you is how toxic those fish actually are to you. If you eat seafood fill out this calculator and see how much mercury poisoning you have. And thats just the mercury levels you are injesting. Other fish like farm raised salmon have high levels of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs). PCBs are used in coolants, lubricants and other great products for your body.

Just something to think about the next time you go to the Sushi restuarant

The MV Spree

2009-08-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is looooong overdue

There are certain moments when I am reminded of how lucky I am to be diving. One of those moments is when I step foot on the MV Spree. It is easily my favorite live aboard I have ever been on. And I am lucky enough to be able to work on it. This year I worked on it as a Dive Master. I didn't get to dive as much as I did when I worked on it last year filling tanks and working in the galley. But it is by far my favorite job on the Spree. That is of course unless CP is busy one trip and I get the chance to be the photo pro. Not that I could possibly ever fill his shoes, but it would be fun.

This year I got to stay on the Spree for 2 weeks straight. The first trip we did was an exploratory trip that was chartered by a dive club and it was somewhat of a new experience for us. Originally the charter was scheduled to go back out to the Dry Tortugas, but was changed with mixed emotions and reactions to a Keys Krawl. Meaning instead of heading west to the Tortugas, we would head north and hit wrecks and new reefs (new to us).

My excitement of diving wrecks has certainly changed over the years. I used to really look forward to diving wrecks and would go whenever I could. But over the years I began to see them for what they are. Purposely sunk hunks of metal on the bottom of the ocean floor. I realized the draw to these wrecks is the life on the wrecks. Which is why they are sunk in the 1st place. To create artificial reefs. There it is, the word that sums it up and I cant get past. Artificial. Give me a natural reef over a sunken junkyard any day. But I digress…

After hitting several wrecks and a few reefs with less than stellar conditions and situations. We took a vote and decided to head back to the Tortugas in hopes to catch what was left of the coral spawn.

The morning we were at the 1st dive site in the Tortugas I couldn’t wait to get in the water. All the passengers were out of the water and I was gearing up ready to get in when a pod of dolphins came across our stern on the surface. Which was a nice welcome back sight. I was going to wait for CP, but he decided he needed to feed again. So I told him I would meet him down on the reef. Got down to the reef and started making my way up current along the sand next to the reef. When I noticed a dark shape over my left shoulder. I turned and the pod of dolphins were swimming by me, checking me out.

I almost forgot to breathe. It was the first time I have ever seen dolphins while underwater in the 9 years of diving. And with no one else around, it was just me and the dolphins in the open ocean. Several of them turned and looked directly at me, while I was trying to swim up current to keep up with them and still take pictures. It was truly a dream come true. Something that I will never forget.

We spent the rest of the remaining 2 days diving the Tortugas. Which in my opinion is some of the best diving you can do without leaving the country.

For a more accurate and better written dive report. Check out the MV Spree’s dive trip report.
The next few days we spent at dock in Robbies Marina waiting for the next charter.

It was some good down time and gave me a chance to go diving on CP's boat with CP and Chris "The Chef Extrodiare on the Spree" (Dont let his age or goofy looks fool you, hes a great cook).

Also to take some black and white shots of the boat yard.

You can see the rest of the boatyard gallery here

And the rest of the Tortugas gallery here.

Must See Movies

2009-07-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

I am never one to stand on a soap box and say you should or should not do something. But here are two movies that everyone should see. Not only are they eye opening, sad and distrubing but powerful and educational. If you have the chance, please see them and tell your friends about them.

The Cove

The Cove begins in Taiji, Japan, where former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry has come to set things right after a long search for redemption. In the 1960s, it was O’Barry who captured and trained the 5 dolphins who played the title character in the international television sensation “Flipper.”
But his close relationship with those dolphins – the very dolphins who sparked a global fascination with trained sea mammals that continues to this day -- led O’Barry to a radical change of heart. One fateful day, a heartbroken Barry came to realize that these deeply sensitive, highly intelligent and self-aware creatures so beautifully adapted to life in the open ocean must never be subjected to human captivity again. This mission has brought him to Taiji, a town that appears to be devoted to the wonders and mysteries of the sleek, playful dolphins and whales that swim off their coast.

But in a remote, glistening cove, surrounded by barbed wire and “Keep Out” signs, lies a dark reality. It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling -- and the consequences are so dangerous to human health -- they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it.

Undeterred, O’Barry joins forces with filmmaker Louis Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society to get to the truth of what’s really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone in the world. With the local Chief of Police hot on their trail and strong-arm fishermen keeping tabs on them, they will recruit an “Ocean's Eleven”-style team of underwater sound and camera experts, special effects artists, marine explorers, adrenaline junkies and world-class free divers who will carry out an undercover operation to photograph the off-limits cove, while playing a cloak-and-dagger game with those who would have them jailed. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery that adds up to an urgent plea for hope.

The End of the Line

The End of the Line, the first major feature documentary film revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Sundance took place in Park City, Utah, January 15-25, 2009.

In the film we see firsthand the effects of our global love affair with fish as food.

It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi; the impact on marine life resulting in huge overpopulation of jellyfish; and the profound implications of a future world with no fish that would bring certain mass starvation.
Filmed over two years, The End of the Line follows the investigative reporter Charles Clover as he confronts politicians and celebrity restaurateurs, who exhibit little regard for the damage they are doing to the oceans.

One of his allies is the former tuna farmer turned whistleblower Roberto Mielgo – on the trail of those destroying the world's magnificent bluefin tuna population.

Filmed across the world – from the Straits of Gibraltar to the coasts of Senegal and Alaska to the Tokyo fish market – featuring top scientists, indigenous fishermen and fisheries enforcement officials, The End of the Line is a wake-up call to the world.

Laguna Seca MotoGP 2009

2009-07-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

This years MotoGP at Laguna Seca could not have come at a better time. Besides it being on 4th of July weekend, I just really really needed to get away and take a mini vacation.

There is a saying that goes "Sometimes it takes a full tank of gas before you have a clear head". This could not be more true. It wasn't until I stopped in Ventura for coffee and gas did I finally start to shrug off all the stress and hoopla I was trying to leave behind.

This year Mega couldn't make it, so I was riding north by myself to meet up with Denny and Mike who were riding down from Corvallis Oregon. It wasn't until I hopped on the 33 and headed north did I finally have a clear head and really started enjoying the perfect weather and awesome ride.

Along the 33 I stopped at Pine Mountain Inn, and actually got to meet the owner and he Assured me they will be opening soon. The place has been closed since I first saw it over 3 years ago, with a sign that said "Opening Soon".

I took the 33 north to the 58. Which along the way you go thru the town of Taft, Ca. The sign at the city limits says "Taft, the best of places!". I thought to myself if Taft is the best place you have been, you really have been in some really crappy places in your life. It also reminded me of the movie "Best of Times" with Robin Williams and Kurt Russel. Funny movie if you ha vent seen it.

From the 58, I took the 101 north till I hit our base camp of Soledad. Another beauty! Its town sign says "Its happening in Soledad!" I'm not sure what it is, but its a lot of nothing if you ask me. This is the best shot I could get of the town. Notice, how the Ducati just makes everything better?

The reason we decided to get a hotel in Soledad is 1st because everything close to Monterey was book or real expensive, and 2nd because of Carmel Valley Road. We took this road everyday last time we were here for the MotoGP. Its a 56 mile ride, one way to Laguna Seca from Soledad taking this route. And it is a great road. In decent shape for being in the middle of nowhere and hardly any cars on it at all.

Saturday morning we got to Laguna Seca right as Free Practice 2 was starting for the MotoGP. As we were walking close to the track, you could hear the bikes warming up. You could actually hear the bikes from beyond the parking lot, because they are so freaking loud. But its a beautiful sound and gave me goose bumps!

Rossi

Stoner!

Nicky Hayden

The Little Pecker that ended up winning.

Chris Vermulan

In the infield of the track, there are so many booths of everything motorcycles you can think of. California Superbike School was there and I got to meet Keith Code. An awesome guy and I really want to take his school...soon.

Of course the CHP had a booth too. Here's a cop in full leathers on a R1. Pretty cool bike and would hate to see this guy coming up behind me on Angels Crest.

Of course no MotoGP is complete without Ducati Island. This is truly and prime example how Ducatisis are different from other motorcyclists. The passion in Ducati riders is something unmatched by any other rider. And it shows how this little Italian company repays its owners and sets up a hospitality tent for them that gives out free water, coffee, snacks and sunscreen. You would never see anything like that from the big 4 Japanese manufactures.

On Ducati Island they also have a mini Ducati Museum with some pretty cool antique bikes.

After checking out the Island and all the other booths we headed to the World Famous Corkscrew to watch the MotoGP Qualifying Practice. The corkscrew is one of the most famous corners in all of racing. It is a tight S turn that drops over 5 stories. To watch these guys take the corkscrew and full speed, is an amazing breath taking sight.

A couple of times a day, they allow everyone to cross the track. Now at first it doesn't really seem like a big deal. But once you step onto the tarmac and feel how smooth and perfect it is under your feet and look down to the corner and imagine coming around it at over 100 mphs, its an overwhelming feeling. And to think of the legends that have raced on the very spot under you feet, its truly a simple and exciting privilege.

After the day at the track, we headed down to Cannery Row in Monterey. They close down the whole street to cars and only allow motorcycles and people in. There are bikes line bar to bar all the way down both sides of the street. And the street is filled with people as if its Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We hung out there for awhile then headed back to lovely Soledad, cause according to the signage, it was Happening there!

The next morning before the races, Ducati made a couple of announcements. 1st was that the new Ducati Streetfighter was voted as one of the best bikes of the year. And 2nd they brought and Nicky Hayden to unveil a limited edition 848 with a custom paint scheme and each hand signed by Nicky himself. They are only releasing 150 of them in the US. Call now while supplies last!!!

And finally it was Race Time! For the race we like to hang up on the hill that over looks the whole track. If you want to watch the entire race, its truly the best spot in Laguna, in my humble opinion.

Pedrosa got the whole shot and led the pack into turn 2

Rossi was 2nd going into turn 3

A couple of laps later, Stoner moved into 2nd and here heading into turn 4

Rossi did sit in 3rd for long, before moving back into 2nd and almost passing Pedorsa on the last corner of the last race. It was one of the best races I have seen in person.

Pedorsa ended up winning and Stoner came in 4th, with Nicky getting his best finish of the season at 5th place.

After the GP, we stuck around and watched the Daytona and the Superbikes races. But we moved around a lot since most of the place had cleared out. But we were able to get close to the track and get some better pictures.

As I was trying different angles on the Corkscrew, I just set up in this spot when there was a crash during the Daytona race and I was lucky enough to catch it at the right time. Or actually wrong time if you ask Yamahas Josh Hayes.

It was a great weekend, one that I really needed. I have been friends with Mike and Denny since high school and it was awesome to hang out with them again and to ride everyday. Till next time guys.....

Streets of Willow Part 3

2009-05-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

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.

Back in the saddle

2009-03-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-11-19T14:37:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-19T14:18:00.001-08:00

(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

2008-11-04T14:07:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

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.

P.O.R.T.

2008-08-01T15:10:00.001-07:00

Despite how busy I am, I have a hard time turning down something that seems to fun or cool to pass up. A good friend and someone I have been teaching with for years, Bill, asked me if I would like to be a rescue diver for a boat race. It took me all of 5 seconds to say yes.

P.O.P.R.A (Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Assocation) was having their annual Rum Run race. Which is a powerboat race from Long Beach harbor to Two Harbors Catalina to Avalon Catalina then back to Long Beach. A total of 77 miles of open ocean. POPRA uses Pacific Offshore Rescue Team (P.O.R.T.) as their rescue team and they needed more rescue divers.

Friday and Saturday was spent setting up, training and inspecting the boats.

Our main job as rescue divers was to be ready and on the scene incase one of the boats crash. We had 3 helicopters, carrying 2 rescue divers each. And 4 rescue boats, each carrying 2 rescue divers and 2-3 medical staff.

I was one of the extremely lucky ones that was picked to ride in the helicopter during the race. We took off from Long Beach airport and trailed the boats once the race got under way. The winner of the race was Team CRC with a time of 37 minutes. That’s an average of 150mph. On the water! That is just flippin fast.

It was surreal to walk around on the tarmac of Long Beach airport in full scuba gear. We were flying in R44 Raven 2 helicopters. Small, light and fast little guys, perfect for the job. I was wearing my normal bc, except with a high pressure steel 30 cu ft tank. Cause there aint a lot of room in those whirly birds.

But I learned that after 2 and a half hours in a small cramped open air cockpit. You will start to ache, get cold and have to pee like a flippin race horse. Oh I cant wait to do it again! Thankfully none of the boats crashed and everyone was safe. Which was the most important aspect of the whole day.

The next race is in San Diego in Sept and I am already looking forward to it. Whether if I will be in a boat or in the helicopter, it will be a good time and great experience.

Dry Tortugas

2008-07-31T10:51:00.001-07:00

Jeez crimeny its been a long time since I updated this. Is this thing still on? Working a lot of overtime at my real job and doing a lot of other activities have limited my time online, which I don’t think is a bad thing.

But a couple of weeks ago I got to dive the Dry Tortugas with my friend CP. He has been working on the MV Spree all summer as the photo pro of the boat. And they needed someone to fill tanks in-between dives on a 5 day live aboard, so called me and asked if I would like to work long hard hours and still get in 3 to 5 dives a day. Uh, that would be a big YES!

So I packed my bags, but not before Ethan and Cameron wanted to help me do a gear check and make sure everything was in order. Thanks Buddys!!!!

Getting there was a challenge. Flights cancelled, flights delayed and broken planes. But none the less I made it to Key West just in time to have an intro dinner with the crew and passengers before we set out to the Dry Tortugas. Which are about 70 miles west of Key West.

My main job was to fill the tanks of all 24 passengers and of the 8 crew. A lot of the passengers did all 5 dives everyday, some didn’t. So I was filling around 125 tanks a day, all day. But I got to dive when the passengers did. And the diving was great.

The reefs were in really good condition and there was a wide variety of marine life. Schools of fish, great macro shots and beautiful coral.

You couldn’t do a dive without seeing at least one great barracuda. Sometimes several.

And lots of groupers, which are becoming one of my favorite fish. Not the prettiest, or fastest, but very docile and inquisitive of humans. Much like my friend Denny.

Along with filling tanks I also took Capt Franks SDI's Solo Diver Course, so I could dive solo as a crew member. After years of diving with CP, I felt I was already a solo diver. But now its a official!

And it never fails, no matter how remote the location or how beautiful it is, we find trash left behind by the human race. It really is saddening and sometimes discouraging. 70 miles out to sea and still finding debree. Here is CP hauling back a blue tarp that was tangled up in the reef.

I myself had brought back assortment of trash including, beer bottles, plastic wrappers and discarded rope.

One of the other things that I got to do was to help Co-owner of the boat and Dive Master extraordinaire, Melanie, replace to 2 mooring lines that are attached to the reef by a big u-bolt. These are great so that boats do not have to drop their anchors and destroy the reef.

It was a great experiencing and I really enjoy doing that type of work underwater. I was reminded of something else. Blood is green at 60 feet. I read about it in the rescue and dive master classes. But have never seen it first hand. And that’s where I got a cut, on the back of my left hand. And a little green stream was coming up from the cut. My first thought, was Cool! Of course my blood was not actually green. But red is the first color to fade as you go underwater, so it only appeared to be green.

Despite working from 7 each morning till past 11pm at night, it was a great experience and opportunity for me. And I hope that I can do it again next summer. Although some of the days were physically exhausting and demanding. But at the end of the day I was sore and tired, I would look up from filling tanks and see this.

It sure beats the crap out of sitting in a cubicle.

Orcas!

2008-04-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Once in a life time experiences almost always come when you don’t expect them. I didn’t expect Sunday to be such a day. What was going to be another great diving with friends turned out to be a day I will never forget.

We were on the Sunfish Dive boat out of Ventura, Ca. While we were crossing the channel to head over to Anacapa Island, someone said they saw whales up ahead. I was in the galley so I quickly grabbed my camera and headed to the bow with everyone else. The whales were off in a distance, but right away something was different than the usual whales you might spot crossing the channel. Someone said they look like Fin Whales. But I noticed they had tall dorsal fins and much shorter bodies. I was thinking to myself, those look like Orcas. As we got closer, everyone was saying "Holy Shit those are Orcas!!!"

We had just come up to a pod of 6 to 8 Orcas. I have always heard that Orcas migrate past California, but it was always something of an urban legend to me. I have never actually known anyone that has seen one. It was always a friend of a friend said he knows someone who had seen some. And suddenly here we were, right next to a pod of them.

At first it appeared that they were just going to swim by us. Captain Andy killed the engines and we just sat there. But the Orcas were swimming all around us, not leaving. And then we realized why. We had come up to them just as they were feeding on a sea lion. We noticed it floating on the surface but still moving. And we watched as they came in formation and hit the sea lion. There were a couple of small Orcas in the pod, and it looked to us as if they were teaching the small ones how to hunt. It was simply amazing. It was like watching the Discovery channel, witnessing in person, nature in its purest form. We watched them for about 15 minutes. They were breaching, circling and tail slapping. These animals were so graceful, beautiful and powerful. I was speechless and breathless.

And then a big one came up and did a full breach hitting the sea lion, flipping it in high the air. Yes, I know, the poor cure sea lion. But it was thrilling to say the least, to watch this in person.

After that the sea lion disappeared, as did all of the Orcas at once. Then after about 30 seconds of not seeing anything. A large one came up, did a full breach and side flop. As if it was the grand finale and saying to us “That’s it folks, the shows over!” And we didn’t see them again after that.

I am a Mountain

2008-02-21T17:50:00.000-08:00

As I am putting on my helmet and securing the chinstrap, there are 2 thoughts that are running thru my head, enjoy the ride and don’t die. As I am pulling on the right glove, stay focused. Left glove comes on, stay sharp. My leg swings over the bike, I am a mountain.

I am not a morbid person by any means. But I am not oblivious to the fact that there are inherent dangers that come with riding a motorcycle. And those dangers can by multiplied when riding canyons and twisties. My worst fear is not that I will do something stupid and crash. If that happens it’s my own fault, I accept that. But it’s going around a blind left hander and having someone going wide, veering into my lane, hitting me head on. Nonetheless, fears will not deter me from living. The snake like asphalt awaits, begs and taunts my Italian mistress and me.

I am not Buddhist but I do practice and follow some of their teachings and ways of living. Especially the methods meditation and single mindedness. When I am riding, I enter a state of single mindedness that is in its purest form for me. I am most focused when I am on two wheels or underwater. Thoughts of work, bills, relationships, what’s for lunch, anything other than what I am doing exactly now is potentially dangerous when riding a motorcycle. But no matter how focused you are, irrelevant and distracting thoughts will enter your mind. If you pay attention to these and concentrate on stopping these distractions you only propagate them even more. Instead become a mountain and all thoughts are clouds that pass by. Pay no attention to them, let it pass, stay focused, enjoy the ride and don’t die.

Randy aka Mega, was stricken deathly ill with a case a wussy-itis. His girlfriend had threatened him with a four post massacre if he dared leave the house to go riding. Having severe vaginal cramps, Mega sends me a text message that he “cant” make it. Pecker. Luckily a few days before, I had posted a message on Multistrada.net asking if anyone else would like to go on a ride on President’s Day. A very cool guy named Kevin, with one of the best looking Multistradas I have ever seen, responded and said he could make it.

It was a heavy, dark overcast morning when we met at the Coffee shop at 7am. After a quick get to know each other, shoot the shit about bikes and talk about our route, we were off. Our destination is Palm Desert, 150 miles each way of mainly back roads and small two lane highways.

A quick jog down the 5 to Ortega and the ride has officially begun. Kevin was leading and we had a good pace going. Until flashing signs warning of construction ahead, literally brought our momentum to a sudden halt. Coming around a blind right hander, sat a parked truck at the end of a long line of cars waiting to be signaled to pass thru the one lane section of the road. Kevin and I hit the brakes hard and shook our heads.

After about 40 minutes of crawling along thru the destruction zone, we were moving again. We stopped briefly at the Look Out to stretch our legs and warm our hands. My leather riding gloves are great for canyons and track days, but shit for any possibility of warmth. Surprisingly we were the only 2 people there. It was a first time I have ever seen that. Overlooking Lake Elsinore, the dense fog and haze covered up, hid and robbed us of the stunning, breath taking beauty of the 909 (that’s sarcasm incase you don’t know the area).

By the time we hit Tenaja rd, I was back in the zone. Sliding off the seat, knee out, leaning into every corner. The bike is breathing for me. The right wrist twists down and I breathe in. Two fingers reach out and quickly grab the front brake, I exhale. The toes of my boots are on the pegs, and keeping me in contact with my mortality. My Multistrada will do anything that I want it to. The only question is, what can I make it do and still get to the next corner with the rubber side down. I come out of the corner and hammer it. The Arrow pipes have the baffles out and they resonate my soul. There is nothing else like this in the world.

One of my favorite roads is Wilson Valley Road. It is a desolate tight twistie road that winds and weaves thru a rock and boulder covered land that could be a scene from a post apocalyptic movie. It doesn’t look like much on the map. But its beauty is reveals itself to you as flick your bike from side to side with the roar of a Ducati twin screaming passionate songs that match the pulse of your heart at 7000 rpms.

As we were riding on the 371 we passed one of the best bbq places known in my motorcycle heaven, Cahuilla Mtn Market. Unfortunately it is only 10:15am and the owner hasn’t even fired up the grill yet, so we ride on. When we hit the 74, instead of turning left and head to Idyllwild, which I have done many times. We turn right and brave the Pines to Palms highway for the first time. This is the reason for today’s route.

I have seen pictures of this part of the road and studied it on the map, and I wanted to ride it for myself.

The first part of the 74 sucked. The road was bumpier beyond any other tarmac I have ever rolled over. Black tar snakes vibrated the handlebars and stripped me of any overconfidence I might have had going into the slightest corners. Thankfully it smoothed out for the most part right around the lookout area that overlooks this 5.6 mile playground. After briefly stopping at the lookout and admiring the view, Kevin and I hit it perfectly. Not one car was ahead of us, the downhill spiral bliss was all ours. Fast sweepers, 270 degree corners and few chicanes. Absolutely exhilarating.

We hit the bottom, quickly turned around and hit it uphill. We were not as lucky going up, with the hindrance of 4 wheeled cages blocking and slowing our pace. Distractions assaulted me and wanted to repeat themselves over and over, move over Grandma and use the turnout you pecker.

But I am a mountain, let it pass, stay focused, enjoy the ride and don’t die.

Slideshows

2008-01-26T21:13:00.000-08:00

Its been awhile since I have been riding or diving. So I decided to post some slideshows that I recently made. One is of my last track day I did with Randy back in October. Most of the pictures were taken by Brian with Cali Photography. Randy and myself took the rest of each other.

I also made a slideshow of my Great White Shark trip back in November. That is a combination of film and digital shots.

And if that wasnt enough I also put up a slideshow of my trip to Bonaire earlier this year. All of the slideshows are EXE's. Sorry Mac users. To end the slideshows hit "esc" at any time.

Here is the link to download them.

Stop Shark Finning

2008-01-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Friend,
I just took action online to help stop the cruel and needless practice of shark finning.
Each year, millions of sharks are hunted, have their fins sliced off, and then are thrown back into the ocean, dead or dying, to satisfy the human appetite for shark fin soup and other dishes made from shark fin. Shark fin soup is sometimes served at Chinese New Year celebrations, weddings, and other events. Shark fin is almost flavorless and may contain high levels of mercury.

This is a practice we can no longer afford. Shark species are endangered and, as apex predators, are vital to marine ecosystems. Please join me in pledging never to consume or serve shark fin. It will only take a minute:

I am not one to stand on a soapbox but this is close to home for me. This is text you will get after I encourage you to sign an anti-shark finning petition. You never know how much signing a petition really helps. But I know it cant hurt, so I did. This is a serious problem. Millions of sharks are harvested every year. Its just another part of how F'n humans are raping the earth and its oceans. There are many sites you can go to find out more information on stopping shark finning. And find out what you can do to help if you want to.

Here are but a few.
http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/
http://www.savingsharks.com/
http://www.wildaid.org/
http://www.sharkwater.com/education.htm
How can you help?

Crashed!

2008-01-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

It was a perfect day for riding. Sunny, low 70's with a slight breeze coming out of the NorthEast. Ethan and I had been riding for the better part of an hour and decided to head home. It started off as a friendly race back, passing each other a couple of times. As we got closer to home it became serious. Ethan looked at me as he passed me and I could barely make out his words as the howling wind between us drowned out his voice. All I managed to hear was "I'm gonna Win!"

With that, I put my head down and gave it all I had. Caught up to him and passed him right before a fast right hander. I went in hot, counter steered and leaned as far as I could to the inside. Metal was scraping and sparks were flying behind me. Going into a short straight I had a good lead on him until we came up to a very tight S turn. Ethan is much lighter and smaller and used his agility and aggressiveness to his advantage. He passed me on the inside on the last part of the chicane, forcing me wide. It was a nice move and I could only admire his skill and competiveness as he showed me his rear tire. As we came out of the turn he was already 3 lengths ahead me. But now that we hit a long straight he was all mine. I dropped the hammer and passed him as if he was standing still. I thought I had him.

Then all went black.

Towards the end of the straight my front tire hit a rock. I went head first over the handle bars before I knew what was happening. Instinctively and painfully I put my hands out to break my fall. My left wrist took most of the damage as I rag dolled along the concrete.

Ethan came up to me and jumped off his razor and pretended to crash as he rolled onto the grass next to the sidewalk. He thought Daddy was playing. All I could do was laugh, as Ethan was laughing. We picked ourselves up, dusted off and were back on our razors. And headed home at a much slower pace. Once we got home I grabbed some ice for the wrist and fixed us some snacks. It was another great day on 2 wheels.

A week and a half later my wrist was still hurting, if not getting worse. So I went to the Dr and got it x-rayed. After it took said HMO Dr 3 days to analyze the xrays and get back to me, nothing was broke. So maybe a sprain or ligament damage. Any incase it I'm hoping it will be 100% for the first Track Day of the year at the end of Feb.

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T09:42:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has a good and safe New Years. Here are some shots from my La Isla de Guadalupe trip.

For the rest of the topside shots you can see them here.

My New Years Resolution: See more sharks, take more pictures of sharks and educate more people on shark conservation.

Happy Festivus

2007-12-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

"Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son. I reached for the last one they had, but so did another man. As I rained blows upon him, I realized there had to be another way" - Frank Costanza

Happy Festivus to everyone and may you enjoy the Airing of Grievances and Feats of Strength.

Demo Day

2007-12-15T20:19:00.001-08:00

Today was the official US release date of the Ducati 848 and Spectrum Ducati had demo rides on the 848 along with most other bikes. Former Pramac Ducati MotoGP rider Alex Hofmann was also there signing autographs.

I got there about 10am and there was already 20 people hanging around waiting for their turn on one of the bikes. I immediately signed up for a ride on the 848. 30 minutes later I was throwing my leg over the sweetest bike I have ever laid eyes on. Just sitting on the bike in neutral I felt like I was going fast. Put her in gear, ease out the clutch and it was a dream come true, I was riding my 1st Superbike. Everything else I have rode up to this point in my life was either a dirt bike, enduro or my Multistrada. And right away I was in love with it. Goin down the street it begged me to twist the wrist. Going into the 1st corner she showed me what I had been missing all my life,... her. Accelerating out of the turn I almost cried. It was a thing of beauty. A few quick shifts and I looked down at the display and its reading 105mph. And it felt like she was only showing me half of her teeth. It was amazing. But before I knew it I was back at Spectrum and had to hand her over to the next anxious rider waiting for his turn with my future Italian Mistress. Without a doubt, the 848 will be my next bike.

While I was there, I also jumped at the chance to ride the Hypermotard 1100. All I can say is WOW. What a freakin fun bike. Coming right off the low profile rocket of the 848, I felt like I was on stilts sitting on the Hyper. But it was so light and so powerful, 30 seconds into it, she was seducing me. Quickly acclimating to her riding style I couldn't stop smiling. Although being used to my Multi, then having just rode pure bliss in corners. I was a bit slow getting used to how the Hyper cornered. But I could tell, take this bike to the track or twisties and you will have a blast. 5 minutes on either of these bikes was just simply not enough.

For much better reviews of these awesome bikes check out the 848 here and the Hypermotard here.

Trip of a Lifetime

2007-11-21T10:50:00.001-08:00

You go in the cage, cage goes in the water, you go in the water, shark is in the water.....our shark.
Ever since I was 4 when I saw Jaws for the 1st time, I wanted to say that, and mean it. Finally my dream came true last week. I went with my friend CP on a Great White Shark dive to Guadalupe Island off of the coast of Mexico.

Last May when we were in Bonaire I was asking him about the Tiger Beach trip he did in the Bahamas and told him I wanted to go if he goes again. But he suggested that we go dive with the Great Whites instead. I jumped at the chance. So we booked the trip thru Shark Diving International. If you ever have consider going to see Great Whites, GO! And if you do go, go with Shark Diving International. Cant say enough good things about them. Great boat, great crew and really professional.

We went on the Searcher that leaves out of San Diego. So I drove down to San Diego to meet up with CP and his friend Tricia the night before we left. Anxiousness doesn't even begin to describe the feeling all 3 of us had before leaving. So after walking down to the dock just to see the Searcher and where it was. We decided to get a drink. And we just happened to pick a bar that all of the passengers that just got back from the same trip we were about to go on, were there hanging out. Everyone one of them were raving how great a trip it was and how many sharks there were. All 3 of us were even more excited but trying not to get our hopes up. Because you never can tell with the ocean or sharks.

The next morning we left dock at 10am and it was a 22 hour ride down to La Isla de Guadalupe. We dropped anchor and the crew started putting the cages in the water and chumming, while we sat thru our dive briefing.

On the back of the boat they have 2 cages. Each cage holds 4 divers. To conserve room, everyone is on hookah lines. Thus eliminating the banging of tanks against each other.

They divided us up into 2 groups, A and B. Group A got to go into the cages 1st. Then we would rotate every hour. There was only 15 passengers on the trip. They limit it to 16 passengers so that you can be in the water every other hour. CP, Tricia and I were in Group B so we had to wait an extra hour before getting in. Within the 1st 30 minutes of Group A being in, the 1st sharks showed up. I cant even begin to describe the level of excitement that I felt. Most of all my life I have wanted to see a Great White, just one. No matter how or how long.

And so the 1st time while standing on the boat and seeing this, made my heart stop. It was indescribable. Beyond words.

Waiting for our turn in the cage was one of the longest hours in my life. Finally its our turn in the cage.

Within minutes of being in the cage, we see the 1st shark. And all you can say is Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiitttttt. The size and the beauty of these animals is absolutely amazing. They literally took my breath away. Several times I forgot to breath, I was so overwhelmed with the power and grace of them. That was the quickest hour of my life.

All day long and every time we were in the cages, we saw sharks. Sometimes up to 4 or 5 of them at a time. The biggest was about 18 feet, the smallest about 10 feet. Think about that. The small ones were 10 feet long. Heck Yes! The big'uns weighing up to 4000 pounds. It was like watching a SUV swim by you.

The 2nd day I couldn't wait to get in the cage and by 7:30am I was the 1st one in. Everyone still a little cold and tired from the previous day was a little slower to get in the water. Which was good for me because my first rotation in, I was in the cage for 3 straight hours. The longest I went without seeing a shark was about 15 minutes. That's when I would look at my shots and delete some and see what settings are working underwater. I ended up shooting over 1000 pictures on the trip.

They also put the 3rd cage in the water, the submersible. Its big enough to hold 1 diver and 1 divemaster. They lower it and raise it on a wench and each rotation is only 20 minutes. It seems like 2 minutes while in it.

On the back cages they hang Tuna heads to draw in the sharks and to get the great open mouth shots.

For the 3rd cage, which some like to call "The Lunch Box". No bait is necessary, the sharks are naturally curious and come in to see what it is. Having a 16 foot Great White circle you while you are in a little aluminum cage is something that I will never forget and loved every second of it.

Especially when you would look down and see this swimming up at you.

And then I fell in love. I met the perfect girl. She enjoys water, loves sea food and more beautiful than I can describe. She's a little taller than me at 18 Feet and weighs close to 2 tons, but has a smile that melts your heart. Say hello to Oprah.

She showed up on the 2nd day and hung with us for the rest of the trip. She often ran off the smaller males so that she could have all the attention. And she had it. Undivided.

Nights were spent going thru pictures and reliving stories of the day. All of the other passengers were awesome. 2 of the coolest people on the boat were Heidi and Angie.

They were on the previous trip before ours, and had such a great time they came on ours since we had a few open spots. Lucky. And thanks to Heidi we had Metal Party on the 2nd night. You simply haven't lived until you listen to Iron Maiden at night while Great Whites are circling the boat beneath you.

The 3rd day was one of the best, the sun was finally out most of the day. And Oprah and all the sharks gave us all the swim-bys and photo ops we could ask for. We saw about 20 different Great Whites over the 3 days and it was a sad moment when we had to pull anchor and head home.

When we got back we headed back over to the Capts Quarters for one last drink and goodbyes.

I could jibber-jabber about how great the trip was for a long time. Instead I will leave you with the rest of my Shark pictures.

Another Track Day - Part 2

2007-10-30T10:09:00.001-07:00

Here are the rest of the pics and story of the track day....

I'm not a morning person, but there is something special about waking up early and either going riding or diving. The sun is just rising and there is a calm before the storm if you will. Although in this case the wind was already upon us, and a handful of fires at this point.

After we got our pit set up, got our bikes inspected and attended the riders meeting. We had some time to kill before our 1st session on the track. And this is when the nervousness and jitters set in. I love it.

All week long I knew it was going to be windy on our track day and I was wondering how bad it was going to be. Surprisingly I really only felt the wind when riding, on the back straight. On the front straight you were riding with the wind, so you really didn't notice it. The rest of track is pretty tight and twisty so it wasn't a huge factor. Only on the back straight when the wind was coming at you sideways, could you feel your bike moving around a bit. And it just so happens that is also the fastest part of the track for me.

The 1st track day we did there were 2 crashes. Today, I don't know if it was the wind or full moon, but there were 8 or 9 crashes. Most of them were in level 2 and a few in level 3 and none were in level 1. Thankfully no one was seriously injured.

Randy and I weren't not the fastest ones in level 1 but I think after a few more track days we will be ready to bump up to level 2.

One of the cool things about a track day is, you never know what kind of bikes you will see there.

Why don't they have umbrella girls at track days?

Overall it was a great day and I cant wait to get back out on the track again.

And the aftermath....

Who says all Multistradas have chicken strips?

But one of the major downside of a Strada on the track, is its low ground clearance.

But who needs a rear break pedal anyways?

Another Track Day

2007-10-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

Despite the wind, fires and ash that all of California had last week, Randy and I went to our 2nd track day. We booked it several months ago (thanks again Mike) and had no idea of the devastation was about to hit California the night we drove up to Lancaster. We drove right by one of the fires on Sunday night, and from the track we could see the smoke. Its hard to believe how much of California burned last week. Several of my family members had to evacuate their homes. But luckily no permanent damage and they are all safe.

The 1st time around we went thru the novice riding school and we learned a ton. This time around we just rode in level 1. Right away I noticed how much my riding has changed since the 1st time on the track back in April. It was night and day. And by the 2nd session of the day, I was getting my knees down. Something that I have always wondered how scary it would be and what it would feel like. And after you do it once, it becomes another level of addiction in the world of motorcycles.

It was a slower more relaxed pace, not having to go into class right after a riding session. But I was still trying to remember and work on everything I learned in the riding school. One thing for sure is that my lines and body position were much better since the 1st track day.

Since Mike wasn't here this time, we didn't have someone to take pictures all day. Although Randy and I both sat out different sessions to take pictures of the other person. I am still sorting thru all those. All of the pictures posted here were taken from the Brian at Cali Photography.

I will be posting more photos later.

A change of name

2007-10-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

I first started this blog so that I could post pictures and stories from my last trip to Australia. Never having a blog before, I didn't know what to call it. So out of haste I picked "The Adventures of Jeff". I never liked the title, it was a bit too narcissistic. But then again so are blogs in general.

Anyways I finally changed the title to something that was a better representation of what this blog has become. Stories and pictures from on the road with my trusty Ducati and underwater with a Nikon D40.

Italian Bike Night

2007-10-18T14:24:00.001-07:00

Another night, another season comes to an end. The Orange County Ducati Club hosted its last IBN of 2007 on Wednesday in its usual spot of the parking lot of Paradiso Gelato in Newport

It was a great turn out. By far there was the most bikes and people I have seen at an IBN. With free pizza and drinks, they came in droves.

The Red Bull Girls were there handing out free Red Bull

Even SuperBikes host Jason Britton was there hanging out.

He rode in on a Aprilia instead of his usual GXR. What a freakin cool guy, you could just walk up to him and start shooting the shit about bikes or whatever.

Also on display was a custom bike built by Roland Sands.

And now we enter the winter hiatus. But with track days and other riding days ahead, I plan to keep the tires warm and kickstand up.

For more pics of the night go here

Reflections in the water

2007-10-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

When I was two I drowned
The gate was left open
I didnt know what water could do
No one knows how long I floated there
Long enough
My Dad brought me back to life
I wish I could remember that day
My family does

The next day I talked to Grandma
Told her “I want to learn how to swim,
I already know how to drown”
Logic of a two year old

Ever since, I have been in love
In love with the water
Any water
Pool, pond, lake or ocean
Better than any dream I ever had

When I was five
I scuba dived for the 1st time
In the same pool
3 feet underwater for 5 minutes
This time I can remember

Diving has taken me around the world
To places I couldn’t spell
Languages I can’t speak
Met life long friends
Some changed my life forever

Thirty odd years later I’m still wondering
What would my life be today
If I didn’t drown that day.

A Honda, a Duc, a Hog and a Beemer

2007-10-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I love about riding, is that if it has 2 wheels, you can ride with it.

Last weekend I went on a ride with 3 of my good friends up to Morro Bay. All 4 of us have different bikes, different riding styles, but all of us have the love for a good ride. Even though we are not always in sight of each other while on the road, we always talk about where the next stop is and we will meet there.

On the longer straights or unfamiliar rodes I stick close to John and his Honda, while Bill with his Beemer and Tom with his Harley trail behind. But once we hit the twisties, I'm off. Head down and heart rate up. They know I'll stop at the next change in route, or I'll pull off on the side of the road and take pics of them as they ride by. Hop on my bike and catch back up to them.

It was a perfect weekend for a ride. A little cold on some parts but not too much. Hardly any traffic on the route we took. There were stretches when I was ahead of the rest of the group and I would not see another car for miles and miles. And I got the feeling, I was the only person on the road, the only motorcycle on the planet. Losing and finding myself with every inch of tarmac that blurred by me in slow motion at high speed. In short the ride was therapeutic.

No journey is perfect if it is perfect. Getting lost or some type of problem usually makes me smile and appreciate being on the road even more. We didn't get lost but my chain decided that it had had enough and it was on its last run with me. Luckily Tom carried and large enough crescent wrench with him so I could loosen the axle nut and tighten the chain. Every stop I would check the tension, and I think I had to adjust the chain 4 times over the 2 days.

Once we got to Morro Bay, JD drove up from Nipomo to have dinner with us. It was good seeing him as always. A great day of riding followed by dinner and a few beers with good friends is something that if everyone did, the world would be a better place.

Here are the rest of the pics from the trip.

ScubaLabs Fin Test

2007-10-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

This months issue of ScubaDiving magazine features the article on the Fin Test we did back in May in Bonaire. It covers the 18 pairs of fins we tested for a week in Bonaire. If you are thinking about getting a new pair of fins or if you are wondering how your fins rank with other pairs of fins, I encourage you to pick it up. The article includes all the hard data from the numbers we recorded thru our series of test, as well as comments from the testers on how they felt about the fins. Some fins might surprise you on how they did and some might reinforce what you already knew.

Also on the ScubaDiving's website they posted a video of a behind the scenes of how we spent the week. And for more info on the tests, Capt Don's Habitat and the island of Bonaire you can see more here.

MotoGP Campioni Del Mondo

2007-09-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Last week Casey Stoner wrapped up his 1st MotoGP championship title in Japan on his Ducati. There are still 3 races left in the season, but with Rossi in 2nd place and 83 points behind, in the words of Mr Miyagi "no can denfense". Congrats go to Stoner and the entire Ducati team.

This is one of my favorite shots of the season and is truely inpiring as a photographer and as a Ducatisi.

Anacapa Island

2007-09-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

Spanish Shawl

I've only been diving a couple of times since I got back from Bonaire in May. So when Bill with ScubaLab told me they were heading out to Anacapa Island for 2 days to test gear for a future issue, I jumped at a chance to join them.

I brought along my camera on the trip. The weather topside was perfect. Mid 70's and clear skies. Water temp was a comfortable 64. Since the main focus was testing and reviewing the gear, I didn't have a lot of time to shoot. Visibility wasn't the greatest either. It was around 15 feet, with some spots clearing up to 25-30 feet. But there was just a lot of particles in the water. It really made me want to get the macro lens I've had my eye on now for some time.

Here are some of the shots I got.

Bat Ray

Brittle Star on Bat Star

Kelp Forest

I started using a new gallery program on my site, I've uploaded the rest of photos I took and a few albums of both motorcycles and scuba pics. I will add more as when I have time and my lazy ass gets around to it.

A Day Like No Other

2007-09-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

What was planned as an ordinary Sunday ride, turned out to be anything but. Aside from riding to work, neither Randy or I have been on a ride since the GP. So we decided to ride to Idyllwild and back last Sunday. It was also my first real ride with my new pipes. After the GP I put on titanium Arrow exhaust and midpipe. They didn’t come with instructions, so a little time was spent figuring out where everything went and which bolts to use. But after I got them on and fired up my bike for the first time, all I could say is wow! They look awesome, like a couple of silver cannons sticking out the back end of my Italian baby. The sound is deep and raspy. Get her revved up to 5 grand and pure music pours out of her sweet cans.

And then I took the baffles out.

A sleeping dragon was awakened and she begged for me to ride her. With the baffles out, she is beyond loud. Almost too loud…almost. But loud enough to piss off the neighbors and to get a ticket in Laguna or some other city cracking down on loud pipes.

Sunday morning comes, the alarm goes off, dust off the leather suit. Yeah I know I'm not going to the track, but its been awhile since I had a chance to wear it so I'd figure I'd take it. And this is knowing that it is going to be scorching hot day. But I try to live with the philosophy of "dress for the fall, not the ride". Today my belief in this will be put to the test.

We met at 7:30am at the Coffee Bean and the temperature was already starting to rise. We got on the road by 8am. By the time we got to Ortega Hwy it was already 88°. When we stopped for a short break on De Luz road it was 105° at 9:30. Temecula welcomed us in at a cool, 112 . It was at that point I stopped caring. My air-cooled bike was running around 260, and inside my suit, it was close to 184 degrees. I thought about ditching my suit and riding in my skivies. I'm pretty sure Randy and the other drivers were glad I didnt.

None the less, we kept on trucking. After getting thru Temecula, we hopped on Wilson Valley rd, and the ride became fun again. Aside from a genuine “oh shit” moment, involving a blind right hand turn, gravel in the road, going wide and of course an oncoming car. Luckily neither one of us was going that fast and we managed to miss each other.

Once we dropped down Cuhillia mountain the temp started to cool down. When we stopped in Idyllwild for lunch it was 86. Which felt like a cool spring day. As we were parking some guy came up and was looking at our bikes and he told us that Riverside just had an earthquake. A small one, but we didn’t feel it. I forgot the name of the restaurant we ate at, but it was some damn good bbq.

Flintstone Ribs

On the way back, dark patches of clouds were here and there. And off in the distance we could see it raining. It was finally a chance for us to stop and take a few riding pictures without melting into the asphalt.

When we got back to Wilson Valley, we could tell we just missed the rain there. The road was wet and there was gravel runoff on just about every corner. Needless to say it was a slow and careful ride thru it. When we hit Temecula we took the 15 north to Lake Elsinore to save some time and sweat. And then everything changed. The sky drew dark, fat rain drops the size of grapes started to fall, and then the sky opening up and it starting pouring the wind was strong enough to make you change lanes whether you wanted to or not. In the middle of a hot summer day, we were caught in a monsoon. It was the hardest I have ever seen in rain in California. Randy was wearing just jeans and a jacket and he was soaked to the bone in a matter of seconds. My leathers were repelling most of the rain, and causing it to run straight down my leg and fill my boots with water. We quickly turned into a gas station and hid under the roof and waited out the storm. It went as quick as it came and after about 20 minutes we were back on the road again, heading home. But since none of the streets in Southern California are designed with rain involved. All of the streets and intersections were flooded and made for an interesting ride.

When we got back to Ortega, the roads were a little dryer. But with the rain, construction and weekend traffic it was a long slow ride all the way thru it. When we reached San Juan Capistrano it was freaking hot again. For there it was quick ride back up the 5 to home. But not quick enough, with all the water inside my suit, helmet and boots it was like my own personal sauna. I’m pretty sure I felt the water inside my boots boiling.

It will be a day long remembered and it was another great day to be out on the road.

Another Epic Ride

2007-08-11T21:40:00.001-07:00

If you want to see a truly epic ride, go here to check one of my favorite blogs, James and his "Tales of a Duc Rider" . He also made it to the GP, but took a much longer and extended route. He always includes great photos. And the best part is, he rides a Multistrada as well.

MotoGP Part III - Racing and the road home

2007-08-11T19:22:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we hung out at the famous "Cork Screw" part of the track. After seeing on tv and watching riders fly down it, I couldn't wait to see it in person. And it is even more beautiful in person. Yup I said it, asphalt turning left then right while going down hill is beauty in a simple form. It is also the best place to get close up shots of the riders and their lean angle. So we hung out there for practice and qualifying. I really wish I had a telephoto lens, but my little 18-55 had to do.

And of course the stars of the show

Stoner!

The Doctor

Caparossi

As I mentioned earlier before there were only 3 races all weekend. And without a doubt the best race of the weekend was the SuperSport race on Saturday with Hayden making a pass on the last corner of the track and winning. For the main race, the big boys. We watched from the top of the hill, just on the other side of the cork screw and from here we could see most of the track. And just watch Stoner run away with it since lap one. It was amazing to watch the little Australian absolutely just school everyone.

The Road Home -

On Sunday on the way to the track we were taking G16 for the last time, and we were flying on it. Really having fun and enjoying every inch of that road. When we stopped for gas and breakfast, I look down at my back tire and see this.

DOH!

The tire looked fine before we started our journey, but I guess the 800 miles we had done since then took more of its toll than expected. Needless to say I limped the rest of the way to Laguna Seca and once inside, I started asking around hoping to find a place I could buy a tire on Monday so we could get home. I ran into Nino from the OCDC and Rob and Greg from Spectrum Ducati. Greg got me in touch with a guy from the Ducati Shop in Santa Cruz, where are hotel was for the night. But they didnt have a tire for my bike in stock. So it was yellow pages to the rescue. Randy found Jims Motorcycle Shop in Santa Cruz. They were open at 9am on Monday, so that was my best shot. Mike left at some unholy hour of 4 or 5am and headed north to his new home in Oregon. Randy and I got to sleep in and get to Jims by 9am. Jim's was a little smaller than I had pictured. It was basically Jim and his garage, not your typical Duc Shop. But he had a tire in stock for my bike and by 9:30 we were on the road headed home.

Once we got on the road, we were on a mission to get home. From Santa Cruz to Orange County we only stopped twice for gas. We covered 1200 miles in 4 days, my back and ass were sore more than I thought I was possible. But it was a great trip and I cant wait for next year.

MotoGP Part II

2007-08-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we woke up early because we had a 40 mile ride to Laguna Seca and we wanted to catch the MotoGP practice. Since no fires were allowed at Arroyo Seco due to everything being so dry and we didn't bring any camping stoves, I thought ahead and brought the next best thing. Pancakes with apple toppings and bacon in a box. It was just like an Army MRE, except better.

After a not quite so filling, yet surprisingly good breakfast, we hit the road. This was our daily commute each day to and from the GP. G-16 was a great road. Most of it was just a lane and a half wide with no stripping. But great corners, awesome scenery and hardly anyone else on it. Expect the deer. Everyday we saw a bunch of deer. Some on the road some running for the hills as we came barrelling down on them.

Since Mike and I didn't feel like leaving Randy out in the general population amongst the non-Duc riders, we didn't sign up for the Preferred Ducati Parking and parked with everyone else.

Once we got inside Laguna Seca, Mike and I headed to the best island this side of Catalina, Ducati Island. After showing proof of registration, we were treated with a Ducati lanyard, Ducati Water, and snacks. Poor Randy had to look and envy us from outside the Ducati Hospitality tent. Mike and I agreed that the Ducati water not only makes you walk faster but also makes you sexier.

After D.I. we walked around and looked at all the booths.

And of course I could not pass up a photo op with the umbrella girls. I think the Ducati water was paying off.

The biggest downside of this years GP was the lack of races. There was only 1 race on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Other than that there wasn't a whole lot going on the track, aside from qualify and practice, which was fairly spread apart. But one thing I thought was really cool, was the track crossing. A couple of times a day when nothing was going on the track, they allowed everyone to walk across the track at two places. The start/finish line and by the Dunlop bridge. It was cool to look down the track and picture what it must look like at 200mph.

To be continued....

Road to the MotoGP

2007-07-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

After months of waiting and planning it was finally here. The morning that my alarm would go off, way before the sun would rise, and it would be time to strap on my helmet, throw my leg over my Italian Beauty and begin the journey to the Laguna Seca MotoGP.

Mike, Randy and I have been planning on this trip since last year. Ride our motorcycles up to Monterey and experience our 1st ever MotoGP. Since then Mike has moved to Oregon, so plans changed only slightly. He would leave a day earlier and meet us there, opposed to all 3 of us riding together.

Friday morning at 5:30am I met Randy at the gas station near Coffee Bean. I knew it was going to be a good day when you start your ride before even the coffee shop opens (they open at 6am, the pansies). Randy and I had 440 miles to cover in one day, so hence the 5:30am meeting time. And since we were camping at Arroyo Seco for the entire weekend. We wanted to get to camp before the sun had set.

To get thru LA as quick as possible we took the 405 to the 101 then jumped on Mulholland Dr for the 1st set of twisties. The 1st of many of the next 4 days. Since it was early we hardly saw anyone else on Mulholland. From there we took the 1 up to Ventura where we met up with John and finally got to grab some coffee. John wasn't going to the MotoGP with us, but wanted to ride with us for as far as Pismo. We took the 33 up thru Ojai and stopped at the biker place that is never open. It keeps promising to open soon, but every time we pass by it, no progress is appearant. But once it does, it promises to entail Bikes Babes and Beer. Yet again the Babes and Beer were no where to be found, just us 3 fools talking about Babes and Beer.

We continued on till the 166 and took that thru Cuyama and back down to the 101. John road with us as far as Morroy Bay before turning south and heading back to his hotel in Pismo. Randy and I continued on north on the 1. It was my 1st time this far on the 1. And it was exactly what I had pictured it to be. Crowded in some spots, open and fast in others and great scenery along the way.

From the 1 we took a right and headed up Naciemento Ferguson rd. All I can say about that road is damn. Damn in a good way and damn in a bad way. It is really narrow for most of it. Barely wider than 1 lane. And the tightest, sharpest corners I have been on. And of course most of them, blind. But once in a groove, it was pretty fun. Despite my saddle bags sticking way out and all the extra weight. I did get some good corning in and scraped my pegs. We did pass a few cars and a few other bikes. Almost at the end of N.F. road you come to a check point where the road goes thru the military base. And to get thru you need to show your drivers license, registration and proof of insurance. Of course my reg and ins was in the glove box under my back seat. So I had to untie and unpack all of my gear to get to it. It sucked, but what are you going to do? Once passed the check point we came across a tank that was sitting about a hundred yards off the side of the road. I was thinking of pulling next to it and taking a pic of my Duc next to the tank, but wasn't sure if the tank was currently being used in some army exercise, and snipers were waiting in the trees waiting to shoot unsuspecting terrorists on Italian motorcycles that hate our freedom. I didn't want to be mis-identified so we kept on riding.

Then we took the G15 back to the 101 and into Greenfield and then down Arroyo Seco rd to camp, rolling in around 4:30. A full 11 hours on the road. It was flippin sweet.

To be continued....

Surf and Turf

2007-06-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know the title is kinda lame, but its all I could think of for riding all the way to JD's house in Nipomo and then going surfing once we got there.

Last Saturday, Tom, John and I rode up to see JD and his new house in Nipomo, which is close to Pismo. Since Mike has turned to the dark side, or rather the green side and now lives in Oregeon, I left Irvine early in the morning by myself. I met up with Tom who rides a Harley at a coffee shop in Lakewood at 7am. Here is the route we took to meet up with John in Ventura.

Once getting out of Lakewood, we got on the 405 and took it to the 101. Thats more freeway than Im used to or like to ride but it was the quickest and easiest way. From the 101 we took the 23 south to PCH. The 23 is a really fun road. Really really tight corners, mostly 1st and 2nd gear turns. But there wasnt alot of traffic out that early in the morning which is nice. When we hit the intersection of 23 and Mulholland Dr, I stopped to take the 1st pics of the trips.

Here is where the 23 drops down to PCH. This part of the road looks a lot better than it actually is. All of the corners had a lot of loose gravel making hard to take that at any speed.

Once we hit PCH we took that up to Los Posas rd up to the 101 and a few exits later we got off on Seaward and met up with John for some coffee before taking the 33 north up thru Ojai. The 33 is a great road, some really tight sections and some good sweepers with elevation changes and great scenery the whole way. We stopped at Pine Mountain Inn to take a breather and stretch our legs a little. Although it was closed, there were several bikes who also stopped there for a break.

We took the 33 up to the 166 and hung a left heading to Cuyama. Old and new Cuyama. As we were heading thru Cuyama the population sign said a total of 150 people reside there. I had a hard time believing that, I only saw a few houses. Maybe they have one of those underground command bunkers like in Spies Like Us. But I didnt see any abandonded drive-ins with hidden elevators disguised as Pepsi machines. I was also on the look out for hot Russian girls in white snow bikinis in tents, no go on those eithers. As we hit New Cuyama we stopped for lunch at the Roadhouse. We were hoping to gas up there at the one and only gas station in town, but guess what? It was closed for the day. And the next service station was 56 miles away where the 166 hit the 101. John and I were nervously watching our gas gauges the whole way there.

But luckily we made it all the way to JD's house in Nipomo. Whose house was great, its in a cool quiet little neighborhood. But the best part of his house was his tv. 40" flat panel sony at 1048P. Simply amazing. After gawking at his tv for a little while, John headed off to find his hotel, while JD, Tom and I grabbed some towels and JDs boards and headed to Pismo beach.

Tom was just getting over a cold so he stayed out of the water and took pictures. JD was using his body board and he let me use his wetsuit and his new long board he had just picked up. The thing was huge, a good 3 feet longer than my board. But it was a wave catching machine. The surf wasnt that great, just a small wind swell with lots of chop and a ripping current. But JD and I both agreed it was great just to be out in the water.

After hanging out at the beach for awhile we headed back to JDs house to meet up with John and head to Jockos for dinner. If you are ever in Nipomo, make a reservation and get a steak at Jockos. It was one of the best steaks I have ever had. The resturant itself is a dive. A shoddy little place but packed with locals. Lines out the door. But worth it.

The next morning we said goodbye to our gracious host and brother, JD and hit the road around 9. On the way back we took the 101 to the 154 and down to the 192. The 192 was an interesting road. It ran thru serveral different residental areas, but with some great twistie parts along the way. But beware, a lot of people have there driveways connected to the 192. And I almost got hit. I was coming around a blind right hand corner. And as I rounded the corner I saw a SUV nose out of his driveway, and right as I was almost to him, he decided to pull out. He saw me and hit the breaks, stopping completely in the middle of the road. I grabbed a handful of breaks and locked up my backtire. Started fishtailing as I was headed right toward this pecker. By shear luck and maybe some of my dirt riding experience I kept it up on two wheels and just missed the back of his suv by inches. I immediately pulled over to check my britches and catch my breath. The pecker just sped off and never looked back to see if I made it or if I was ok. As Tom and John were coming around the corner they saw the smoke from my tires and the guy speeding away. It was definitely the biggest "Oh Shit" moment of the year for me.

When we got to Ventura, we met up with Bill for lunch at a little cafe which I cant remember the name of right now. Then Tom and I took off for home. On the way back we took PCH to Mulhollad dr and stopped at the famous Rock Store. It was my first time there and it was just what I expected and seen on tv shows. A bunch of bikers, sporties and hogs, all hanging out looking as cool as they can.

After the Rock Store it was lane splitting on the 405 all the way home. It was a great trip and JD is the man for having us over and cant wait to head up there again.

(me looking as cool as I can, but with great scenery)

Bonaire Part 3

2007-06-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

We began Sunday morning by sizing all the fins and doing orientation meeting and briefings on the tests and upcoming week for the "veterans" and "rookies" of the teams. CP briefed the speed team and I briefed the slalom team. I cant go into the details, results, or specifics of the tests. All that will be covered in the November issue of ScubaDiving magazine. What I can tell you is that is was another fun and amazing week with people I consider family. For the ones that have been to the past tests especially. And the rookies fell right into place and joined the family.

Here are some of my favorite shots of the week, and you can see all of the rest of my pictures at 130Down.

And here are some pics that CP took. He really is an amazing photographer, and even though he wont admit it, he taught me almost everything that I know about underwater photography.

This one, I wanted a shot of me next to a moral eel smiling. But the eel wasn't having any of it, go figure. Every time I got close to him he would back down into his hole. So this is as close as he would let me get to him. Yeah I know, not the smartest thing to do, but I thought it would make a great shot. Anyways this was at the bottom of the Hilma Hooker ship wreck in about 110 feet of water.

And here is me and my new best friend. Don't worry my Duc is still my Italian mistress and is above all other toys.

Bonaire Part 2

2007-06-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

We finally got settled in at Capt Don's Habitat late Friday night and early Saturday morning we were up and ready to get breakfast and hit the water. After the usual dive orientation meeting the pool was open.

The 1st dive is always a monumental experience. Its the 1st dive of the trip and it was the 1st dive with my new Ikelite housing for my Nikon D-40.

For comparsion I brought along my trusty point and shoot Sony that has been on more than 200 dives with me. As you can see how much bigger and involded the D-40 is. But its worth the cost and effort. I fell in love with it the 1st time I looked the view finder and click the shutter button.

For our 1st dive we dove Capt Dons House Reef, which in my opinion is one of the best house reefs I have ever dove. In the afternoon. CP, Tom and I did a boat dive on Little Wall. Later that night we did a night dive back on the House Reef.

Saturday night the rest of the team showed up. In all we were 12 fin testers and 6 people from Scubalab and ScubaDiving Mag. Who all took time away from their families, work and everyday lives to go spend A LOT of hours underwater testing fins in the warm Caribbean waters. Its a rough job, but somebody has got to do it....

Bonaire Part 1 - Getting there

2007-05-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I love about going to another country/part of the world, is trying to enjoy as much of the journey as possible. 9 hour layovers are one way to do that.

ScubaLab, who does all the gear testing for ScubaDiving magazine was having their 5th Annual Fin Test on the small island of Bonaire. Chances are that unless you are a diver you have never heard of or been to Bonaire. Its part of the ABC islands off the coast of Venezuela. The ABC's are Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. I'm sure you've heard of Aruba.

I've been lucky enough and very fortunate to have gone to all 4 previous Fin Tests. Needless to say I couldn't wait to go on another one. For Tom, someone I have known for years and been diving with for years, this was his first. Tom and I booked our flights thru American a couple of months in advance. Originally we were scheduled to leave LAX Friday May 11th at a brutal 6am flight to Miami then to San Juan Puerto Rico. A short layover in S.J. then a direct flight to Bonaire. A month or two before we left, Tom had called to request exit row seating. They denied the request and also told him that flight was now cancelled (which it wasn't but more on that later). Luckily Tom was on the ball and quickly rescheduled us on the 11:55 pm flight on Thursday night, which flew us straight to S.J. and gave us a 9 hour layover in Puerto Rico.

It was probably the best layover either of us have ever had. We landed in S.J. around 9am. Found a storage room to store our carry on bags, hopped in a taxi and headed for Old San Juan. The cab driver dropped us off at San Cristóbal Fort. The admission was $10 a person for both San Cristóbal and El Morro forts. Well worth the $10. San Cristóbal was built in 1634 and was amazing. It was very cool to walk down the same tunnels and look through the same lookouts that the soldiers used to do almost 400 years ago. There are still original drawings on the walls that the soldiers drew to identify ships.

After we walked around San Cristóbal for awhile, we walked over to El Morro which you can see from San Cristóbal.

El Morro has a huge grass field leading up to it. And it sits at the end of the peninsula. One of the popular things to do is to fly a kite on the field. Which there were a lot of. There is also a cemetery off to the right, overlooking and almost falling into the ocean.

Once inside your your free to walk around or take a tour like at San Cristóbal. We just walked around and took pictures. Some of the cannons were still along the wall over looking the sea.

After we walked around El Morro for awhile. We walked around Old San Juan and found a place to grab some lunch. I normally don't take pictures of food. But I had something called Mofongo (I think) and it was some Puerto Rican marinated steak server in a wood bowl with smashed plantains. It was so good, I want to go back to S.J. just to have that again. After lunch we continued walking around the shops and ran across some of the motorcycle cops and had to get a quick pic, even though they were hogs.

After several hours and a few beers later we were ready to go back to the airport. Where we met up with CP, Polly and Meg. Now here's part that really made the layover with it. Well when the ticket agent told Tom our original 6am flight was cancelled, it was really only moved back a few minutes. John and Vicky never changed their flight and so they stuck with the 6am-ish flight. Only to have a real delay in Miami and so they missed connecting with us and the plane in S.J. So they had to stay over night and catch the next plane to Bonaire, a full 24 hours later.

to be continued....

Photo of the Week

2007-05-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

This week flew by. I feel like we just landed yesterday. It was another great week of testing fins and diving as much as we could. I took over 1500 photos. Thank God for digital. Here is one the best shots I took. I'll post a full gallery when I get back.

Photos from Bonaire

2007-05-15T04:41:00.000-07:00

I'm short on words and time this morning. But Bonaire is amazing. We've been in the water 4 or 5 hours a day. I'm still learning the camera and housing (and will be for the next few years). Here are some shots that I have taken in the 1st couple of days. I'll write a full post when I get back.

The dock we shore dive from

Flamingo Tongue

Lizardfish

Redlip Blenny

Smooth Trunkfish

Quotes to Big Bear

2007-04-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

As I’m shifting my weight, sticking my knee out and pushing on the handlebars to counter steer, I have a quote from the movie Swingers running thru my mind. “You like a big bear, man…”. Of course when Trent was saying it to Mike he was referring to picking up women. To finish the quote, “and you have these claws and you don’t know how to kill the bunny”. Classic. But for me, today the bunny was the next curve coming up. And my claws are none other than my trusty Ducati Multistrada. Not that I didn’t know how to take the curve safely at a moderate speed, or rather “kill the bunny”. But Swingers is one of my favorite movies and I know that I have so much more to learn about the art of cornering.

Early Saturday morning Mike and I headed out for another motorcycle camping trip. This trip’s destination was Camp Serrano at Big Bear Lake (which is why I was thinking of the Swingers quote). One thing different about this trip is that we are meeting our families there. They are driving separately and leaving much later and meeting us at camp. Although we could of easily packed everything in the vehicles. Mike and I packed our bikes as if we were going alone. Two reasons. 1st, we are getting ready for our big ride in July when we are going to ride to Laguna Seca for the MotoGP and we are going to camp for the weekend. We wanted to see what we should bring and what would work and not work on loading the bikes. And 2nd, both of us are self-reliant and incase the families didn’t make it or had to turn around for some reason. We wouldn’t be stuck in the mountains without any gear.

Randy didn’t join us this time because it was his girlfriend’s sister’s friend’s aunt’s birthday party, or some other excuse. He really missed out. Hope you had an extra piece of cake, Randy.

Per our standards, Mike and I took the LONG WAY there. We met at our usual spot, the Coffee Bean in Irvine. For the first part of the trip we took our beaten path down to Temecula. Which is heading to Laguna to see the ocean along PCH. Then taking Ortega Hwy to Lake Elsinore. And then the back way around to Temecula. Since we were on sort of a time frame we didn’t take our favorite De Luz – Sandia Creek loop thru Fallbrook. But we did stop at the intersection to take a break.

So far it was a decent morning but we could tell it was going to be great day. While riding along the coast on Pacific Coast Highway there was a thick marine layer that hung like a blanket over us. But as we were riding thru Ortega, the sun broke thru with a vengeance and shined for the rest of the day. With it being the beginning of spring everything was starting to bloom. It was an amazing experience to smell the salt of the ocean, vineyards and orchards of Temecula, dirt of the desert, pines of the mountains and everything else along the way, all on one ride. Along with the scents, the bugs were in full force today. It was definitely a visor down type of day. And for every 10 or 15 bugs that hit my visor, one of them would get me in the neck. I don’t know how they do it, but there is less than an inch of exposed skin from the top of my collar to the bottom of the helmet. But those little peckers got me there at least 7 or 8 times. I started calling those bugs, the snipers.

Once past Temecula, the ride really picked up. It was one of the days that everything felt right. I was in a zone and became one with my bike. I was applying everything I learned on the track day and what a difference it made in my riding. The lyric from Fugazi’s song Blueprint popped in my head – “Cause what a difference, a little difference will make”. Thank you Matthias and Fastrack Riders for all that you do. Speaking of which I cant wait to get another track day fix on June 15th. But anyways, we were having such a great time riding and just moving at a good pace we didn’t want to stop a lot. So I didn’t get a whole lot of pictures of us riding. But here is Mike along Wilson Valley road.

I planned out the route on Microsoft’s Streets and Trips. I normally don’t boast about anything created by the evil empire. But that is one nice piece of software. Creating your own waypoints and calculating time, distance and gas needed. And it has everything from highways to dirt roads on it. It is a must have when planning obscure routes. Since we were taking a new route and I wasn’t about to bring my laptop. I wrote down some simple directions on a piece of paper and kept it in the sleeve of my suit. When we stopped on De Luz road, I must of dropped the directions because when we stopped for lunch in Anza, they were gone. And I couldn’t help but smile. It only added to the adventure. If we did get lost, chances are it would be on a cool road and we would get to do it twice. When I broke the news to Mike, he had the same reaction that I did. It was as if it was good news to us. Both of us like to plan and prepare for any trip as much as we can, but once it starts, just go with it. Everything good or bad is part of the adventure. To quote Charley Boorman from the book Long Way Round – “Imperfections in the journey is what makes the journey perfect”. Nail on the head there, Charley.

After lunch we continued down the 371 to the 74, hung a left and headed towards Lake Hemet. That is a really nice ride. Not full of twisties but dropping out of the high desert mountain of Cahuilla into a valley of pine trees, is a great change in scenery. Then we took the 243 up and through Idyllwild. We were planning on stopping there, but the pace was too good and neither of us needed to take a leak. So we headed down the backside of the mountain, or front side I guess, depends where you’re looking from. We did pull over before the final stretch down to Beaumont to take some pics. Mike also posed his new Dainese track suit he got. With the color scheme, he says he looks like a Power Ranger. Its hard to argue with him on that one.

The closer we got down to Beaumont, the hotter it became. The cool mountain air was being rapidly replaced with smog and feeling of being in an arm pit. I really do love the variety of California. We gassed up and started the final leg of the ride. We took Beaumont Ave north which turns into Oak Glen road. Holy Crap Batman, that was a cool road. Its fun if you go at a moderate pace. But if you’re on the throttle and on your toes, it becomes a very technical road. Really tight S-turns when you don’t expect them. A few 270 degree turns for your liking. Kinda narrow and not a whole lot of room for error. The road made my sweat and pulse increase even higher. You cant ask for much more.

Last but not least, we hopped on the 38 going up the mountain. At this point in the day, Mike and I had settled into a groove so deep, we weren’t coming out of it until we put our kickstands out. It was the type of the day that the mountains were speaking to you. There was no decipherable message, no words that I can repeat or write here. But the voice inside the mountain gave you the feeling of a little kid climbing all over his dad. Having the time of your life. The 38 is the fastest mountain road I have ever been on. Long wide sweepers, nice straights, S-turns with plenty of viz ahead. Great ending to a perfect day of riding.

By the time we had finally arrived at camp it was 2:30pm. Our families had pulled up 20 minutes before us and made it ok. We were beat and ready to take off the boots. It was one of those rides that makes you say “That was awesome but I’m glad its finally over, and I cant wait to get up tomorrow and ride again”.

Camp Serrano is a really nice campground. A little pricey, but they do have clean bathrooms and showers (if you need those types of facilities) and it is a short hike to the lake.

The ride back home the next day was far less epic. We didn’t hit the road until almost 2:30. So we took the quick way home and only stopped once for gas and once for a last picture. But we did load all our gear into the vehicles so we were lighter and more nimble. It almost made us want to take the long way back, but we both had things to take care of before dragging our sorry butts back to work the next day.

I will end this mini-novel with a quote from Neil Peart’s book Road Show – “When I’m riding my motorcycle, I’m glad to be alive. When I stop riding my motorcycle, I’m glad to be alive”.

PS - I don’t know how that turned out so long but my fingers are tired from all that jibber-jabbering. My next post will be in 2 weeks from the small island of Bonaire, off the coast of Venezuela. I’m back in the water for a week of testing fins with ScubaDiving magazine.

Streets of Willow

2007-04-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

I think I have discovered legal heroin, and Fastrack Riders is my dealer. On Friday Randy and I took track school with Fastrack Riders at Streets of Willow, and I'm hooked. I am now a junkie. I've been trying to think of how to describe how I felt after doing my first track day. My first thought is, its like trying to describe how you felt after you had sex for the 1st time. But different. It would be like having sex for the 1st time while on a roller coaster that lasted 20 minutes long. Since it would be impossible for me to capture those feelings with my limited vocabulary, I will simply write about the events of the day. I might start really jibber-jabbering so bare with me.

The Prep -
When going to the track, you have 3 options. Ride your street bike, rent a bike or ride your track bike. Since riding our street bikes was the cheapest option. Randy and I went with that. If you are going to ride your street bike you need to prep it 1st before it will be allowed on the track. 1st and foremost, make sure you have new or good tires. My Multi came stock with Pirelli Diablos, which I recently just picked up a new set, so I was good on that. Next you need to tape your headlight and remove the fuse. Also you need to tape your blinkers and brake light and pull the fuse for those. But I quickly found out that on my Multi, the fuse for the blinkers and brake light is also the same fuse for the fuel injection and starter. So I left the fuse in, and completely removed the blinker/mirrors and the rear blinker/brake light/license plate assembly. You also need to tape your wheel weights. Fastrack didn't require safety wire or water wetter, but some other tracks do.

Getting there -

Since Streets of Willow is in Rosamond which is a good 2.5 hour drive without traffic and you have to check in at 7am, we opted to go up the night before and stay in Lancaster at the Essex hotel. Which gives a discount to track riders. Mike offered us his trailer, his mechanical expertise and photography skills for the day, and we are forever grateful. We ended getting on the road around 8. Once we just got past LA, we stopped for gas and some food. And just as we were walking back to the truck to get back on the road. We heard a hissing sound coming from the back tire of Mikes truck. Luckily we heard it when we did, cause it would of sucked trying to change the flat on the side of the freeway in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. So after changing the flat and getting back on the road we didn't get to Lancaster till midnight. We checked into the hotel and 5 and a half hours later we were waking up and getting ready. The sun was still rising on the way to the track.

The morning -
The gates opened at 6:30am, and its $10 a person to get in, whether you're riding or not. We were one of the 1st ones there so we got a close spot to the track entrance and concession stand. Registration started at 7am. Riders taking the school have to be suited up and ready to ride at 8am. So you have an hour to set up your pits, register, take your bike to the tech and get it inspected, get dressed and be sitting on your bike at the track entrance. The instructors then take you out for a couple of sighting laps at a slow pace. I thought we were only going to do 3 laps, but we ended up doing about 6 laps. Each lap a little faster but still a moderate pace.

The class -

This was some of the best money I ever spent. The class portion was run really well and moved like clockwork thru out the day. The instructor ration was 3 to 1 and they were really helpful and knowledgeable. To signify that you are in the class y ou get to wear colored jerseys over your leathers. Randy and I got the purple ones, better than the yellow ones in my book. After we rode our 20 minute session we went into the classroom right away. In the classroom for 30 minutes. Then we had about 10 minutes to get ready before your next riding session. And repeat the same schedule every hour until 1pm. From then on we still rode in the Level 1 sessions but on our own without the instructors, to practice what we have been learning.

Since it was our 1st time at the track, it was required that we take the class. I would of taken it anyways because I learned so much in 1 day. And you never realize how many bad habits you have until you have an instructor point them out to you. Once you correct them, you cant believe what a huge difference it makes in your riding. One of my worst habits that our instructor Mattias pointed out is that I always turn into the corner to early. Which causes me to miss the correct apex and then go wide coming out of the corner. Even after showing me the correct lines, every now and then I would fall back into the same habit and turn in too early. But part of it is think my personality. When I was a kid I couldn't wait to open my presents. Either for Christmas or birthday, it didn't matter. I couldn't wait to open them. And corners are like presents to me. I cant wait to get into them. This is something I will still continue to work on.

The Track -

They say you never forget your 1st. I know I will never forget the 1st time I rode Streets. Its a smaller tighter slower track than the Big Track at Willow. Which was perfect for us.

The entrance to the track was at the beginning of the front straightway that starts going uphill, so right away you pick up some good speed. Turn1 was a fast right hand turn still going uphill, that I kept on the throttle and just leaned into it. Turn 2 was one of my favorite turns. Its a tight right hand decreasing radius turn. By the end of turn it spits you out going downhill into a short straight before Turn 3, a tight left hand turn at the bottom of the hill. Exiting turn 3 you are going back uphill into Turn 4. The tightest turn of the track. Randy and I agreed, Turn 4 was our least favorite. The pavement right before the turn is patchy and bumpy. I never found a good line or rhythm going thru it. Turns 5, 6 and 7 are all fast sweepers. Each faster than the other picking up speed until you get to Turn 8, also called "The Bowl". Turn 8 is the fastest and most banked out of al the corners. Coming out of Turn 8 throws you into the back straight. This was the fastest part of the track for me. You have too much to worry about and not supposed to look at your speedo. I couldn't help it on the straights, every now and then. On the back straights I was hitting 95mph. At the end the straight it slopes downhill so you cant see Turns 9 and 10 until you are hitting Turn 9. Both corners are not really corners and you can almost go straight thru them. Coming down the straight and flying thru Turns 9 and 10 gave me a lot of speed coming up to Turn 11. Which gave me a couple of "Oh Shit" moments because I was coming in too fast. Turns 12 and 13 are quick little turns that lead up to my favorite, the most fun turn. Turn 14, which is a wide right turn on the "Skid Pad". I scraped my brake pedal and pegs the most on this turn. Its also the turn I got closest to putting my knee down. My knee never actually touched but I was within an inch or two.

Safety -
One thing that was constant and always present was the concern for safety. Throughout the day they would make announcements over the loudspeaker, if you're tired, skip a session and rest. Also there was an ambulance sitting at the end of the track ready to go. Not one in the area just in case, but actually on constant standby for the whole day. Every time I looked over, there were two paramedics sitting inside the ambulance ready to go as soon as a rider went down. I did see 2 different riders go down during the day. Both of them were in level 2 and happened around noon. Which the instructors told us is when most of the accidents happen. But when the riders went down. Everyone exited the track and the "Crash Truck" was right there to pick up the rider and bike. Both riders were ok and everyone else resumed riding right away.

End of the day -

By the end of the day you are beat. Mentally, physically and spiritually (depending on how many "Oh Shit" moments you had). Tires take the brunt of the beating of the track. But I was able to all but eliminate my "Chicken Strips" on the side of the tires. But also because my Multistrada wasn't designed especially for the track, it scrapes a lot. On the left side I was scraping my peg and the side stand as well. On the right I really scraped the brake pedal a lot and a little on the peg. I will definitely raise my brake pedal before my next track day. And once I get better at hanging off, it should help with scraping the pegs.

Final Thoughts -
I went to the track to become a better, safer rider. I learned a lot about how to properly take a corner and more importantly if I didn't take it correctly, I learned how to safely get myself out of danger. Although I feel that I am now a faster rider, I am not going to take what I learned at the track and use it to ride faster on the street. I am going to take what I learned and use it to make me a safer rider on the streets. And when I have the desire to go fast and push the limits, I will be "Taking it to the track".

For more pictures go here.

Accessories

2007-04-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

One thing that is synonymous with motorcycles is what you buy and add on to your bike once you have it. I haven't added a lot to my bike. But here is what I have added so far.

Famsa Side Bags - I went back and forth for awhile on whether to get hard cases or soft bags like these. Hard cases are great because you can lock them and some of them are even big enough to hold your helmet. But they are a lot more than soft bags, especially the DP (Ducati Performance) cases. And I am only really going to use them on camping trips and occasionally when I have carry something with me. So the soft bags were the best choice for me. Once I decided to go with soft bags. It was either the Tour Master or the Famsa bags. The Famsa were a lot more, but they were made especially for the Multistrada and come with a spacer for the perfect fit. And I think they look so much better.

I've also added fork and frame sliders from Motovation. There were a couple of different sliders to go with. Cyclecat was the other top contenders for me. But I went with Motovation because I like the way they looked and read they hold up really well in the event you lay it down. After I placed the order, I knew I made a good choice. When I ordered them I wanted to get the sliders before the weekend ride. So I selected 3 ground shipping. Within a couple of hours of placing the order on the Motovation website I got a call from Kyle and he told me that if he ships them regular ground they will get to me at the same time and save me $10. I was really impressed that he did that. Not many companies have that type of customer service. I will definitely order more parts from them in the future.

I've also added a Zero Gravity smoke wind screen. Its a little higher than the stock screen, but not much. It does help with the wind on the freeways. And looks much better than the stock windshield.

Motorcycle Bloggers International

2007-03-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

A Couple of days ago a I came across a link posted in TalesofaDucRider for Motorcycle Bloggers International. Its a site dedicated to the listing of motorcycle blogs from all over the world. They currently had 99 blogs listed. All of them are for the most part about motorcycles and the adventures that come with exploring the world we live in on 2 wheels. Not that I needed more ways to waste the day inside infront of a computer screen instead of outside living life, but I was hooked.

There are some really great blogs on there. And some of my favorite blogs were already listed on there, go figure. I quickly filled out an application and within a few hours I became their 100th member. I was expecting balloons and ticker tape to fall from the ceiling tiles of my work, maybe some cheerleaders doing cartwheels and singing praise to Al Gore and his ingenious invention (the web). But instead I got a welcome email. Just as good of a prize if you ask me.

Track Day

2007-03-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

Randy and I signed up for our 1st track day next month at Streets of Willow with Fastrack Riders. Anticipation, nervousness, fear, joy, excitement and "are we there yet?" are all the emotions that hit me at once everytime I think about that upcoming day.

Here is a great story of a track day at Button Willow by a guy named Dylan who's site I visit on a regular basis. There are several reasons I wanted to take my bike to the track, and Dylan summed up the first and foremost of them all in one sentence, "The skills riders learn on the track increase their odds of survival on the street. It’s really that simple".

Mt Baldy

2007-03-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Mike, Randy, "Monster" Dennis and I rode to Mt Baldy and back. Aside from the wind that we hit close to Mt Baldy, it was a perfect day for riding. Today we took a lot of pictures of each other riding. So instead of jibber jabbering, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Randy on his 06 Yamaha FZ1

Mike on his 05 Ducati Multistrada 1000s

"Monster" Dennis on his 06 Ducati Monster S2R

Me on my 06 Ducati Multistrada 620

To see the rest of the pictures go here

Wet Again

2007-03-06T17:02:00.000-08:00

I haven't been diving in a little over 4 months, so I was due. A couple of days ago I went to test regulators with Scubalab. I cant tell you which regulators we tested or which ones did well, you will have to wait to see it in an upcoming issue of Scubadiving. But I can tell you, I would dive again with any of the regs we tested, any day. Well except for one...and you will have to wait and see which one.

Topside the weather was perfect. Sunny and the high 70's.

However the dive conditions were not that good. But I really needed some nitrogen loading, so I didn't mind. Water temp was 57 degrees and viz was about 10 to 20 feet, which is bad for Catalina. I spent most of my time rating the regs, but I did have some extra time to get some pics. But I did not get that many good ones because of the conditions.

Abalone - Its really nice to see them making a comeback after having them all but wiped out in the 70's and 80's.

C-O Sole - Sometimes these guys are really hard to spot along the bottom because of how well they blend in with the rocks.

Moray Eel - I always dig the way the red rock shrimp and gobys take advantage of their big ugly neighbor keeping guard.

Sheep Crab - Speaking of ugly, this is a face only a mother could love. Kind of reminds me of Denny.

After the tests we dropped the Scubalab guys off at Avalon where they were staying for all 3 days of testing. I could only do one day, so I had to head back across the channel.

Nothing beats a good day of riding, well except a good day of diving.

On A Cold Sunday

2007-02-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

Taking a break from our usual routes heading south. Today Mike and I headed north to meet up with his friend Dennis from work who rides a Monster S2R. We met Dennis at Berts MEGA mall in Azusa. Its actually where I bought my Duc, and I haven't been back since. After meeting up with Dennis we headed north on Azusa blvd until it turned into 39 - San Gabriel Canyon Road.

If you see a sign like this and don't smile, then turn around.

We took the 39 up past the reservoirs and then took East Fork road up. It was definitely colder riding up the mountain but I had thermals on under my suit so only my fingers were cold. Even then, it wasn't too bad. We stopped every now and then to warm up and take in the scenery.

After awhile, Dennis had to turn around and head back down because he had to be somewhere. But Mike and I continued on. It had snowed on Thursday night and the snow level dropped down to 3000 feet. But on Saturday it was really warm and melted a lot it. But not all of it!

As we were coming up to one corner that was very well shaded, the road was white. I was thinking why is the road white? I think that is ice....shit it is ice. Luckily it wasn't that big of a patch and we weren't going that fast. But we made mental notes, slower and more careful for the rest of the way up. A few corners later we came across this bigger longer patch of ice and decided, yup its time to turn around.

Aside from the ice and some rocks from slides that you would expect on a mountain road, they are in really good condition. And with them winding along the side you usually can see people coming up or down. And there are a ton of overlooks for great views.

On the way down we stopped at Camp Williams Cafe for a decent cup of coffee and a mean stack of flapjacks.

Overall it was another great day of riding. The 40 minute freeway ride getting there sucked, but well worth it. Once it warms up we will be heading back there soon.

On Any Sunday

2007-02-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

There is a saying that goes "You can live more in 5 minutes on a motorcycle, than some people do their whole life". South Grade road going up Palomar Mountain is a good 2 or 3 lifetimes.

On Sunday Randy, Mike, Mike's brother-in-law Jim and I went for a ride to Palomar and back. It was one of those perfect day rides, that leaves you wanting more, exhausted, a little sore, and at some point or another your heart was beating louder than a Ducati twin (sorry Randy that you ride a Yamaha). Mike just got a smoking deal on a 05 Multistrada 1000 s. It already had the DP hard cases, Termi Exhaust and of course Ohlin Suspension. And it only had about 1300 miles on it. So it was time for him to break it in.

And now that Mike's KLR was free, Jim got to come along and ride it.

We met at the usual place on PCH and hit the road at 8am. The morning was perfect, couldn't ask for better weather. But with the weather and holiday weekend, there was a lot more traffic out and about that early in the morning. We took Ortega over to Lake Elisnore again and stopped at the Lookout for a quick break.

Still my favorite road I have ever ridden is De Luz road leading to Fallbrook. Its a little narrow and a lot of blind corners. But hardly anyone is ever on it and the whole thing is twisties. If you have never rode De Luz road, trust me ride it once. Actually never mind, I think its probably one of the best kept secrets in So Cal.

We got to Fallbrook around 10 and just in time for breakfast. And par for the course we stopped at the Wayside Cafe again. The food is pretty good and owner/manager is a great guy. Its hard to actually find courteous and friendly people in Orange County. I guess that's why Fallbrook isn't in Orange County.

After breakfast it was a straight shot on the 76 to South Grade road going up Palomar. Its a good 20+ miles from Fallbrook to Palomar along the 76. And then it begins. South Grade road. Its a place where everyone should go at their own pace, dont try to follow or catch anyone and watch out for on coming traffic going wide. All the way up you smell brake pads and clutches and hear the roar of Sporties going up and down.

Once to the top, we all had to stop and breath. Once our breath was caught, we took in the scenery and shared our stories of coming up.

From there its a quick 5 miles to the Palomar Observatory where we met up with Mike's wife Amanda and their daughter Zoe and Jim's wife Julie and their kids Tyler and Hunter.

After having lunch and hanging out for a bit, we hit the road home at around 3:30. A little later than we had planned, meaning that we would have to race the sun back home. When we got to Fallbrook the sun was low, the clouds moved in and the temp dropped a little. It didn't rain but it was looking like it was going to soon. As we hit the base of Ortega going up the sun was setting and it would of made for some great pictures but we didn't have time to stop. Next time. By the time we got to the 5 it was completely dark, which with my tinted visor made it more interesting. None the less, it was another perfect journey. We covered almost 300 good miles and 5000 feet up and back down again, the only thing that would of made it better is if we camped over night and made the ride longer. Next time....

Signs

2007-01-29T19:12:00.000-08:00

Today I finally had about an hour or so to myself and so I went for a quick ride. I rode up El Toro road to Trabuco Caynon rd. Trabuco is a pretty cool road, despite being too short. But I didn't have a lot time, so it would do. Anyways there is a part on the road where both sides are thick with trees and they grow over the road creating a tree tunnel. It's pretty cool to ride thru.

Now I'm not sure if we are just getting too smart for our own good or the guy that makes signs gets paid by the letter. There is a sign there that says "Impaired Vertical Clearance". I guess a sign that says "Low Branches" would be just too easy for people to understand. Now I'm all for literacy and education. But when you can't call something what it is, either because it is no longer Politically Correct or you are deathly afraid of hurting someones feelings. In this case, the hyper sensitive trees. What is America coming to? (Don't answer that, Denny)

So instead, I say lets just stick with the picture signs. If done right, I think they can be informational as well as funny. Here is a sign that I propose for those low hanging sensitive trees.

So when Stiles is surfing on top of the Teen Wolfmobile, he will know that he should watch out for the branches.

The Worlds Newest Ducatisi!!

2007-01-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

Say hello to Cameron Thomas Lovin, born January 16th at 1:06pm. He weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and 18" long. He was a month early but I think it was he wanted to hurry up and start growing so he could ride!! In the future look for Cameron, Ethan and I at the dunes of Glamis, scubadiving around the world, track days, deke-ing the pads off of goalies at the local rinks, paddling out in Newport Beach, freediving in anything deeper than a pool, shooting Denny in the head with paintball guns and riding every twistie we can find. Basically worrying their Mother to death.

IMS

2007-01-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

Last month Mike, Randy, Ethan and I went to the International Motorcycle Show at the Long Beach Arena. It was all of our 1st time at the show and it was pretty cool.

All the major companies were there, but we had to head to the Ducati section as soon as we could.

A lot of the new bikes and new models were all really cool to see but the real show stopper and voted most beautiful bike of the show was the 1098. The Tri-Color was for display only but they did have a base model on the floor for everyone to sit on. Ethan got to sit on it 1st. How many 3 year olds have sat on a 1098? Not that many, I try to be a cool Dad.

The Desmosedici RR was also there. If you ever wondered what a $65,000 sport bike would look like, wonder no more.

After Ducati we hit all the other bikes. Ethan sat on just about everything he could. Although since green is his favorite color, naturally he was really fond of the Kawi's.

It was pretty fun and definetly worth checking out next year if you are into bikes. They were offering Demo rides on a lot of bikes in the parking lot but we never made it out there, there is always next year.

DEMA

2006-11-12T11:52:00.000-08:00

This week I went to my first DEMA (Diving Equipment & Marketing Association). Its a week long convention where most dive manufactorues, companies and stores come to show of their new gear for the year and of course make sales.

CP talked me into going this year which was being held in Orlando FL. So I used one of my free trips from Southwest and went. CP is an amazing photographer and he brought his portfolio and was showing it to all the magazines. Keep an eye out, you will for sure see his pics in magaizines. He also takes all the pics that I use to make and sell the 130Down Scuba Tshirts

We mainly just walked around and looked at all the dive boths and destinations. Two places I really want to go now is Sipadan Water Village in Borneo, Malaysia. The other place is Fiji. CP and I stopped by the Fiji booth and they were serving Kava. Kava is all natural and made from a root. It looks like dirty water, and it tastes like dirty water but man does it make you feel good. Kava is used in ceremonies in the islands, we simulated the ceremonies there. 1st you clap once before they give you a bowl of it, then after drinking it you clap 3 times. CP and I went back a couple of times.

Another cool booth was one for the upcoming movie Sharkwater. Its a documentary on the overfishing, the illegal finning and all the misconceptions of sharks. I really cant wait to see it.

CP and I also got to hang out with fellow Fin Tester Cathy and the guys from ScubaDiving Magazine Bill Kendig and John Brumm.

It was a great time and I cant wait to go again next year.

Quick Ride To Fallbrook

2006-10-29T20:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Mike, Randy and I took a half day ride to Fallbrook and back. Randy has had his Yamaha Z1 for about a month now and this was his first time on a ride with us and on the Ortega Hwy. Although right away, Randy feels he is number 1.

We hit Ortega pretty early in the morning and there was not that many people on it. Which is always nice. We stopped again at "The Lookout" for a quick break. The fires are still burning in Riverside and Banning and you can see all the smoke in the distance.

Mike being the inventor that he is, rigged up his own helmet cam. For the ride out there he had it mounted on top of his helmet. For the ride back he had it mounted on the back of his bike pointing backwards. Hopefully I can post some clips he took later.

Right before we hit De Luz rd, Mike had to stop and water the bushes. I hope turned off the camera.

Once we hit Fallbrook, we stopped at a life cafe and had lunch. It was pretty good, I forgot the name of it, but its along Main St. You cant miss it, there isnt a whole lot of places to eat in Fallbrook. On the way back on the Ortega we got stuck behind some slow pecker from Arizona. By the time we got behind him there were 3 cars trailing him, then us 3 on bikes and behind us were several other cars. And the idiot didn't pull over or use one of the thousand turnouts to let everyone else go by. We followed him the whole way. It took us twice as long to go thru Ortega Hwy as normal. Seriously how self centered do you have to be to think that everyone else can wait for you because you have too much pride to let people pass you. If some guy on a scooter wanted to pass me, I would pull to the side and let him go, and more power to him.

Aside from that, it was a great trip. I really wish we had time to actually make it a 2 day trip and camp. But it was good to get out and just ride.

A day at Anacapa Island

2006-10-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

What better way to spend a Monday then to spend it diving on a perfect day. Scubalab was trying out a new crop of test divers to add to their pool of divers they can use for the gear test year round. Since I have been testing gear for them for the past 5 years, I asked to tag along and help out anyway I could. So they assinged me the role of Dive Master of the boat. It was the 1st time I have ever DiveMastered a boat and it was pretty cool. So I checked people in and out the water, helped out with any issues and kept a constant eye out for anything that could go wrong.

When we left out of Oxnard Harbor and it was a short 1 hour boat ride over to Anacapa Island. After we dropped anchor, Bill and John gave the gear testing briefings to all the divers.

The divers did 3 short dives to simulate 3 different types of gear tests. The conditions were good, 40'+ viz and about 64 degrees. You really cant ask for more in October.

Since I was the DiveMaster I didnt get to dive in the morning. Only after all the simulated tests were done and we changed sites did I have time for one dive. And so I made the most of it and stayed down for 70 minutes. It was my only 3rd time diving Anacapa Island and it was one the best dives I have had in So Cal. The viz had dropped down to about 20 feet and there was a slight current but not too bad. What really made the dive was all the marine life that I saw on one dive. Here are some shots of everything that I came across.

This little guy was hanging out inside an empty scallop shell

Spanish Shawl

Juvenile Garibaldie

Bat Ray

Octopus

Giant Kelp Fish

Horn Shark

Scorpion Fish

To end the perfect dive, I had a little underwater snack. I found a nice size scallop, slipped my knife into the shell. Cut the top and bottom and opened it up. Cleaned off all the innards, and had a big enough piece that I had to cut it half to eat. There is simply nothing better tasting than a scallop underwater.

Italian Bike Night

2006-10-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to the last Italian Bike Night of the year for the Orange County Ducati Club . It was held at/or rather in the parking lot in front of Gelato Paradiso down in Newport Beach. Damn good gelato and even better espresso. Seriously why does anyone go to Starbucks? Oh because there is one every 38 feet, that must be it. It cant because they think the coffee is the best. Thats like saying McDonalds has the best hamburgers because they sold 19 trillion. Think about it Starbucks, McDonalds and Microsoft are all one in the same.

Damn, I started to rant like Denny. I miss that goofy bastard. Ok back to the story.

Anyways it was another good turn out. There were about 20-25 bikes there. Most of them were Ducs, but with a few Aprilias mixed in and the token BMW. There were a lot of 749's there, mine was the only Multi there. And of course I never get tired of seeing the 999.

After the IBN, I took PCH south down to Laguna. Riding down PCH at night with my visor up, smelling the salt air, seeing the ocean, is something that wipes away every thought I have. Makes me forget the crappy week I had at work. Reminds me of why I put up with the traffic, smog, and anything negative you can think about Orange County.

Once I hit downtown Laguna, I headed up Laguna Canyon rd. Hardly anyone was on it. And the air was cold enough to really make you pay attention to everything and nothing all at the same time. It was a perfect ending to a good night.

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

2006-10-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, you have never heard if Lake Cuyamaca or Cuyamaca Park. The easiest way to describe where it is, is its in between San Diego and the Salton Sea in the Laguna mountains. Mike and I have never been there, but we went this weekend. Trying to get in one more ride before winter hits and Mike becomes a father. We set off from Irvine and rode all the way there and back without getting on one freeway, 400 miles round trip.

We took the usual route of heading down PCH, then cutting across on the Ortega Hwy to Lake Elisnore. Then heading south, and coming to one of my favorite hills which is on Los Gatos Rd.

When we hit De Luz road we made a right and took it to Fallbrook. De Luz road was really cool. Twisting and turning thru tree tunnels, hills and over creeks which half the time ran over the road. Which was a little tense, riding thru water with street tires is not something either of us likes to do. But it only added to the adventure.

At Fallbrook we headed East on the 76 and came to South Grade Road. There are roads and then there is South Grade Road going up Palomar Mountain.

Its hard to describe the feeling of riding this road up the mountain, riding it down is its own monster all together. But it was awesome. The road itself is probably as close to a race track on a public road as you will ever ride. Tons of sport bikes are there flying up and down this road.

When you get to the top your heart is racing, hands cramped from gripping too tight on the handle bars, and smiling so big, your helmet gets tighter. And the view is not bad either.

Here is Mike coming to the top of it.

Once on top of the mountain we headed over to the Palomar Observatory, which has a 200" telescope. I didn't get any pics of the actual telescope inside, but it was impressive. Next time we will have to do the tour of it.

After the Observatory we got back on the road and headed to Julian. We were going to eat lunch there but it was way to crowded and every place has the prices you would expect at a tourist trap. So we kept riding until we got to Lake Cuyamaca and had lunch in a little mom and pop cafe. We camped at Green Valley campsite, which was...ok. It wasn't quite as good as Idyllwild. But we were so tired all we needed was a place to sleep.

Once we got camp set up and took the mandatory nap we headed into the small town of Descano for dinner. If you have never been Descano on a Saturday night, you don't know what you are missing. Actually you probably do, nothing. But outside the gas station/store/restaurant we saw this ol pickup truck, that summed up Descano.

The next morning we got up and hit the road, this time taking the S1 up and around back to Lake Cuyamaca. S1 is probably my favorite road I have ever been on. Twisting thru forests, mountains and over looking valleys.

It was another great trip and far exceeded our expectations. And no great trip is without its wrong turns, and other mishaps that you look back at and smile. Like at the camp site when the wind shifted a certain way, you smelled shit, getting stung in the neck by a bee while riding, and after a wrong turn you see a sign that says "Pavement Ends 600 Feet".

Marine Life of So Cal

2006-09-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Garibaldi

It's been awhile since I have been in the water, and I am really craving some nitrogen right about now, but I have a cold that has been kickin my ass for a week. So I thought I would post some pictures I have taken over the last 6 years in Southern California. This the state marine fish, Garibaldi. Aside from not tasting good, they are also protected, and they know it. They are not that afraid of divers and if you get to close to their egg nest they will try to fight you off. I've had them try to bit my mask.

Green Moray Eel

Despite their fearsome looks, they are really timid. People think of them as dangerous, well if you stick your hand in their mouth, yes they will bite you. I took this picture off of Catalina. You can also notice all the red rock shrimp hanging around him taking full advantage of their symbiotic relationship. He promises not to eat and keep the fish away if they eat the parasites.

Abalone

The abalone are finally starting to make a good comeback along the coast of California. Divers used to get them by the bag loads in the 70s and 80s. They were all but wiped out. Now that they are protected, you can see them more frequently. It took me 2 years of diving before I saw my first one. Now I see them all the time.

Octopus

The octopus is one of my favorite animals to see underwater. They are far more intelligent than you ever realized. And masters of disguise and escape. They mainly hunt at night, but you can see them during the day if you know where to look. I took this picture while shore diving in Laguna Beach at Shaws Cove.

Pacific Angel Shark

The most asked question from students when I'm teaching at Sport Chalet is "What about the sharks?" Truth is, ask any diver, and they will tell you they love to see sharks. Despite all the movie and tv hype, sharks are not aggressive. And sharks are not too fond of divers, we are so loud breathing underwater that they know where we are before we are even close enough to see them, and so we usually don't see them. But there are 3 types of sharks you can see regularly in So Cal. The angel shark is one of them. They like to lay in sandy areas and cover themselves. If they think you don't see them, you can get pretty close to them. The most common shark you will see is the horn shark. This little guy likes to lay on the bottom, usually in rocky areas. They get their name from the horn that is sticking out right infront of his dorsal fin.

The third type of shark you will see is the Leopard shark. I don't have any pictures of them. But they usually are 1 to 4 feet long and hang out in the very shallow water, especially in the eel grass. All of them are timid and non aggresive.

Scorpion Fish

These are cool fish to see, but also on of the few poisonous fish of So Cal. If you put your hand on their back and touch one of the spines on their dorsal fin you will wish you didn't. They like to hide out in the rocks, so you have to be careful where you put your hands, especially when lobster diving and trying to get that bug back in a hole. They are pretty docile and if you move slowly you can get close to them.

Sheep Crab

The biggest and ugliest crab you will find in So Cal is the sheep crab. I have seen one where his body was about a 18 inches across, and with those long legs, it looks even bigger underwater. Here's a tip, if you put one on your head to make your buddy and students laugh, you might want to rethink it. Atleast one that is big enough to wrap his legs around your head and pinch your neck.

Sea Lion

Sea Lions are the dogs of the ocean. They love to play and will come to divers looking for someone to play with. They will blow bubbles to be like you and hang around you for as long as they want. If you are taking pictures, be prepared to only get pictures of them, because they will scare off any and all other fish and marine life around you.

If you would like to see more pictures that I have taken around So Cal, Caribbean and Australia you can see them here.

Long Way To Idyllwild

2006-09-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

Normally you go camping to get away from it all. But you dont feel like you are away from it all until you get there. You load up your car or truck, sit on the freeway, usually in traffic on the weekend and you cant wait to get there. Your trapped in your car not looking at the scenery, whats there to see on the freeway anyways. Finally you pull off the freeway and get to where your going, and then finally you can start to unwind.

But when you take your motorcycle to go camping, you are away from it all as soon as you throw your leg over it and sit down. This weekend Mike and I rode our bikes to Idyllwild. And we took the longest route we could, and enjoyed every second of it. According to Yahoo maps, if you take the freeway its 96 miles to Idyllwild. The way we took was over 160 miles and we didnt get on one freeway. Mike rode over to my house early Saturday morning and we headed south on PCH to San Juan, stopping for coffee before taking the Ortega Hwy over to Lake Elsinore. Mike fit almost everything into his storage box, I tied down my sleeping bag, tent and mat to the back of my Duc and fit everything else into my backpack.

After another good ride thru Oretga we stopped at the Lookout for a Rat Bastard Root Beer and to stretch our legs. Enjoying the fact that we were taking our time and taking in everything that we could.

Once coming down the mountain and hanging a right on Grand until got to Clinton Keith rd, the ride got even better. Picking roads I found just by looking around on Google Earth, we pieced together a route to get us up and around to Idyllwild. It was full of twisties, hills and just about everything. Roads running thru fields of avocado trees, orange trees and wine vineyards.

There were plenty of signs like this along the way, and every time we saw one we couldn’t help but smile.

We stopped for lunch in Anza at the Cahuilla Mtn Market along the 371. It’s a cool little family run place that serves some awesome bbq. We checked the map to see how far we have gone and even started planning our next trip.

Once we started to go up the mountain it was cool to see the scenery change, and feel the temperature change and the smells change. Just simple things you never experience in a car.

We finally got to camp around 3pm. Idyllwild sits at about 6000 feet so it was definitely cooler up there. Mike made us reservations at a cool campground called Dark Canyon. And in the morning you realize why they call it that. Its tucked in a little canyon and surrounded by tall trees, so not a whole lot of sunlight will actually hit your camp site. Once we got there we set up camp right away and just rested a bit. I brought along my tent, Mike brought his camping hammock which was pretty cool. It comes with a screen to keep out the bugs and a tarp to cover you as well.

After resting a bit we rode down the road a little bit and loaded Mikes storage box full of firewood. We actually got enough firewood for the whole night on one trip. You cant beat a good Enduro with lots of storage room.

For dinner we went to town and ate at the Greek Place. Really good greek food, a bit pricy though. The ride back at night was really cold, at least for me and my summer jacket. But going thru the blind corners and twisties in the mountains at night was something you just have to do atleast once. In the morning we pretty much just packed up, got breakfast in town and rode the same way back. By far it was once of the best trips either of us have ever been on.

Doffo Winery

2006-08-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today my friend Mike and I rode with the Orange County Ducati Club (OCDC) down to the Doffo Winery in Temecula. The owner of the winery, Marcello Doffo is a motorcycle enthusiast and was hosting a charity event for a poverty stricken school in Argentina that he is helping out.

We met up with about 16 other riders down in San Juan Capistrano, before taking the Ortega Hwy over to Lake Elsinore, then down to Temecula.

There were about 100 riders from 3 different Ducati Clubs at the Doffo Winery. Although Mike is riding a Kawasaki we still let him ride with us . You can see his KLR hiding in there amongst the fine Italian machines.

Marcello also had on display his personal motorcycle collection. Which was about 25 motorcycles, most of them were vintage and extremely rare.

And of course what would any Italian's garage be without a Ferrari?

For a $10 donation to the charity the Doffo Winery provided lunch and a glass of wine

To also raise money for the charity, BikeBandit was there and had a bunch of stuff to raffle off. I bought some tickets and won this awesome Cortech leather jacket.

Say Hello to my little friend.

2006-07-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

I have been riding dirt bikes most of life and I have always wanted a street bike. So I finally got one. After looking for months online, I went with a friend of mine to a bunch of different dealerships and looked and sat on all the bikes I was considering. We hit the Ducati dealership last because that is the one I liked the most and wanted to see everything else first.

After riding her for the 1st time, I fell in love and knew she was the perfect bike for me. Say hello to the Ducati Multistrada 620.

Birthday Dive

2006-07-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted to dive on my birthday and finally after 6 years of being certified, I got my wish. I went out on the Island Time with Scubalab's John Brumm, John Francis and Bill Kendig. I couldnt of picked a better day, the surface temp was 72 and stayed around that until about 35 feet. There were several thermoclines and at 100 feet it dropped down to 54 degrees. Needless to say, after the first deep part of the dive, I stayed shallow for the rest of the day. We did 3 dives and I was able to get some shots.

Here is a Spanish Shaw

A nice size Lingcod

The lobster were everyone, they always know when its not the season.

There was no cake or candles on the boat, so I blew a bubble ring instead.

Pub Review

2006-07-07T16:11:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of Cairns is the nightlife. Since it is huge vacation/holiday spot, every night is like Saturday. There were alot of new clubs and pubs that opened since the last time I was there. All of them within walkin distance of one another, for your pub crawls. I meant to take pics of the outside of each one but never got around to it, or I just didnt remember to do it when I was there.

1st and foremost the most famous pub and one of the best is The Woolshed. Famous for being full of backpackers dancing on the tables. They also serve food if you get there early enough. Oh and on Wednesdays they have wet tshirt contests around midnight, but I didnt go there....twice.

My other favorite pub was the Rhino Bar. Plenty of drink specials, 3 pool tables and big outside patio. It seemed evernight they had a different theme or special going on. Thursday is free Champaign to the ladies.

If you're looking for a good Irish Pub to grab a Guinness, then P.J. O'Briens is the place for you. Its also one of the good pubs that is open during the day. At nights they live bands, Coyote Girl Dancers on the bar, and of course loud music to dance too.

The Courthouse is also a cool place to go. It has a huge outside area, and during the world cup they had a 30 foot screen set up to show the games. Of course the games never started before 11pm so if you wanted to stay up all night outside watching the games, head there. Its also a hotel if you dont want to walk far at the end of the night.

Honorable mention goes to Gilligans. Like the Courthouse it is also a hotel/resort. The bar has a nice pool and outside area. I think a saw a pool table or two inside too. But the music is more hip-hop, house and techno.

This review is sponsored by Australia's best beer, XXXX Gold. Despite Americas common misconception they dont even drink Fosters in Australia. Fosters is for the birds.

Last Night in Cairns

2006-07-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

cFor our last night in Cairns we went back to the Casino because it was Salsa Dancing night. Even Memere came along and hung out until 11pm. It was one the our best nights in Cairns, they had a live band and drink specials on Cuban rum drinks.

After Mum, Mick and Memere headed home, we headed over to the Rhino Bar and met up with everyone else and stayed out till the morning until I had to head back to catch our flight. (Side note, a 14 hour flight goes by much quicker when you sleep most of the way.)

Lagoon and Muddys

2006-07-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

After the Rain Forest we headed over to the Lagoon for some more pics before we left

And then down the street to Muddys, which is a great kids park they put in right by the bay. Its really big and tons of stuff for the kids to play on.

Rain Forest on top of the Casino

2006-07-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

A little late updating, but on Thursday before we left we went to the Rain Forest Exhibit on top of the Casino. It was pretty cool. They had a lot of different animals and birds. Of course the main attraction was the Koalas

Among the birds that they had flying free inside the dome, were bats. It was day time so they were sleeping until I starting taking pics of them. Damn those tourists.

Here is a shot of all of us

Signs of Australia

2006-06-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

One of the parts that I really love about Australia is their signs. Just something that you will not see anywhere else in the world.

Crosswalk

Your typical crosswalk sign, notice the snappy duds. Ironed pants and nice shoes.

Beware of Crocs

The locals will tell you, if there is water there is crocs. But they do have to put up danger signs for the tourists.

Cassowary Crossing

Around the outskirts of Cairns and the neighboring cities you will see a lot of these signs to watch out for huge 6 foot birds walking across the road.

City Rules - Heres a sign that will tell you what you can and cant do on the beaches. I think we need these for the beaches of California.

First the obvious ones that you should know - You cant bring your horses or dogs on the beach. Or build teepees or build fires. But you are also not allowed to jump your motorcycles over cars. And for some reason you cant swim to the right, but you can swim to the left. The sign also tells you what you are allowed to do. You can sit under a tree and get hit by a coconut and you are allowed to kick the jellyfish.

Crossing

This sign reminds me of the ones you see on the 5 south heading towards San Diego of the family running across the freeway. Here in Australia when a mother and her kid cross the road, they have to walk like an Egyptian.

Another day on the reef

2006-06-27T01:58:00.000-07:00

Today I went out with Tusa dive which leaves out of Cairns. So it was just a short ride to the harbor and then an hour and a half to the reef. The conditions were much better today. The wind only really picked up on our way back. As soon as I dropped down on the 1st dive I saw 2 reef sharks. Only about 4 to 5 feet long, but pretty cool. Towards the end of the dive I saw 3 barracudas. They were about 3 to 4 feet long.

On the second dive after my designated "dive buddies" ran low on air after only 30 minutes. I sent them back to the boat and I finished my dive and ran into 4 reef squids. They were only about 10 inches long but hung around for a long time. Long enough for me to take 30 pictures of them and video.

Right after the squid I saw a turtle. He too didnt seem to mind me swimming with him for awhile. I hung around the turtle until I hit the dive limit of 60 minutes. I was the last one out of the water and the dive master wasnt too happy that I sent my other buddies back and kept diving. But he shouldnt of paired me with them. The buddy system should be your choice. Not forced upon you, especially with divers you dont know. I'd rather dive alone than dive with someone I dont know or trust.

Croc Farm and Kangaroos

2006-06-27T01:18:00.000-07:00

On Monday we went to a crocodile farm in Innisfail. The big crocs that they have there, have been captured because they were problem crocs. Found in near or on residents property, eating cows, dogs or anything it could. Since the crocs are protected they cannot be killed. But they can bred them and with the baby crocs they can do what the want with them. Hence they become handbags, boots, wallets and food.

Along with the crocs they also had kangaroos that you could pet and feed bread.

There were also a few Cassowaries there. But those were kept behind a fence because they are dangerous birds. Their beaks are very strong and the horn on their head could be used as a weapon. But they were beautiful birds. Much better to look at then their cousin the Emu.

Bramston Beach

2006-06-27T00:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday and Monday we were down in my Mum's beach house in Bramston Beach which is about an hour south of Cairns. Its a very small town. About 50 houses, and there is only 1 hotel and 1 store. The store is the cafe, gas station, post office and grocery store. Bramston Beach is near Innisfail which is the wetest part of Queensland. They get about 21 feet of rain a year. Not inches, but 21 feet. It rained while we were there of course but the sun also came out here and there.

I took this pic of the cockburra bird in Mums backyard. The butterfly was on the beach and didnt seem to mind me getting close enough to take its picture.

Trinity Beach and Cable Skiing

2006-06-24T01:38:00.000-07:00

This morning Mum and Memere went shopping, so I took the bus to Trinity Beach which is just north of Cairns. It was nice to just hang out by myself and relax on the beach. It was mostly cloudy and windy. But cleared up long enough to get some pics.

My Mum houses foreign exchange students who come to Australia to learn english. Right now Andreas is staying with us and he is from Columbia. In the afternoon, Andreas and I wanted to try Cable Skiing. Which is wakeboarding but you are being towed by a cable around a huge pond. Neither of us have ever tried this or wakeboarding before. But it was pretty easy and really fun. After an hour of it your arms are burning.

Sky Rail

2006-06-23T00:55:00.000-07:00

After a few days of overcast and rain, it finally cleared up. So we decided to take the Sky Rail up the mountain to the small town of Kuranda. First we stopped by the beach at Yorkey's Knob. Which is inbetween Cairns and Trinity Beach.

It takes about 25 minutes to ride the sky rail from Cairns to Kuranda, making 2 stops so you can get out and do a short tour thru the rain forest.

The second stop on the sky rail is at Barron Falls

Mick met us with the car once we got to Kuranda and we hit some shops and the pub.

On the way home we stopped at Tichum Creek Coffee Farm which is close to the town of Mareeba. They serve a mean cup of coffee. One of the best I have ever had. Its a family run businees where they grow their own coffee beans and sell the coffee.

Just as we were heading down the mountain the clouds and the rain were moving in.