On Monday fellow maggot, Cory from nearby Gatlinburg got in touch with me about my Sabre I am selling. He came over, looked at it, and said we had a deal. I told him I could bring it to him as he had no trailer and Skip was due to arrive later that night with ... a trailer.
Skip showed up around midnight, beers were drank and 3-something came up fast. We retired for the night and got up in the morning with the goal of delivering my big Sabre to its new owner over in Gatlinburg. Things went fairly smoothly as we unloaded both the KLR and the KLX and got the heavy Sabre loaded and strapped down.
The GPS wanted us to take 321 there and I knew of this decent little restaurant that is good for lunch. Skip was agreeable to that so we were able to sip some damn good apple cider.
I don't have a GPS and don't really want one. However, I will admit that I was glad Skip had his as the way we came in was not 911 friendly as half the roads weren't marked. MamaMagellan kept us turning where we needed to since there was no street sign on a couple of those. So I will give the GPS credit there.
We found Cory and exchanged cash and title and hung out for a little bit. Then Skip and I were going to head to Knoxville to pick up some beer for later -- there isn't much a selection in the mighty 'burg of Newport.
Then I remembered there's a brewery in Gatlinburg, so we stopped there for a couple. Skip ordered their porter and after giving me a sip, I wished I had ordered one as well. It was pretty good. We headed back to the house and more eating and drinking and conversation ensued.
Wednesday was spent just kind of milling around the house. Skip fiddled with the bandsaw and got my new blade on (I just hadn't got to it yet) and fiddled with the adjuster and that seemed to help a bunch. Meanwhile, I busied myself with getting the oil changed on the KLR.
It only took 2 1/2 quarts to fill so I had enough left over to change Skip's . He was still adjusting the bandsaw wheel, so while I was down there and dirty, we changed his too. Then we lubed the chains and were going to adjust them, but they were close enough that we didn't have to. Then we put them to bed with the intent of stretching their legs tomorrow.
Followed up the night with more good beer and I brewed a batch while he was here. He can have some of those upon his return.
Monday, April 23, 2012
happy trails?
Thursday couldn't arrive soon enough! Weather was forecast to be 70s and sunny. Perfect! The bikes were ready and almost immediately after our eyes were open, we set out without a clue as to where we were headed or when (if?) we were going to make it home.
I recalled this area that looked like it had possibilites and it was only about 20 miles away, so we figured we would try it. It turned to gravel rather quickly and there were other gravel roads branching off it. We explored a few but most just kind of ended or were gated off.
We passed a waterfall and then I realized I had left the camera at home -- dammit! Since we weren't really finding much more than gravel dead ends we headed back to the asphalt in search of something more interesting to explore.
It was funny though as we came to our first turnaround point Skip stopped and through his helmet yelled "YAAAAYYYY MOTORCYCLES!!" and relayed to me that while he was at American Supercamp the previous weekend that when they came to a stop he would be laughing in his helmet and screaming "YAAAAYYYY MOTORCYCLES!!" -- well that became the recurrent catch phrase for the weekend! ; )
I spied a road to a firetower and since I had the lead, took it. We went back that way a couple miles and then off to the right was a single horse trail rolling off into the woods. I asked him what he thought and he said "I will follow you".
There would've been no discussion but there was a sign there that might have said no motorcycles but it was too small for me to see for sure. I was glad I removed the side bags. It wouldn't have fit in some of the places we were (including the entrance).
A few hundred yards into the trail a crest of the hill turned downwards .... STEEEEEPPP. I stopped, looked at it and put the kickstand down -- my balls shriveled up just looking at how menacing it was. Skip shut his off and looked at the grade. It was nothing but 4"-6" rock "boulders" and looked to have better than a 50* slope relative to the horizon.
Holy Crap! I keep staring at it ... I don't want to go! Going down intimidates me. Skip took the helm and descended down it on his little KLX near effortlessly. However, it still didn't look any more inviting to me.
I sat there another minute trying to convince myself to do this. I *finally* started down it.
Fear is not what you need in this situation. Not sure it was fear, as much as a COMPLETE lack of confidence. This is only my *second* time trail riding. This angle and terrain is not beginner's stuff. Add to that the KLR is not light and it's a recipe for disaster.
I dumped it -- almost immediately. Not a hard fall as I was mostly duck-walking it down and taking it easy, but one of the times I put my foot down, the rock gave, my foot slipped, and the center of gravity tipped far enough over I just quit fighting it and eased it down. Shut off the bike, position myself to pick it up, set on kickstand, get back on and again fight to convince myself to forge on.
However, in process of that I noticed a bolt missing out of the handguard. I look around for it but never did find it. No biggie, NAPA is on the way home.
I mounted the bike and made it down it, but I am already SOAKED from sweat and out of breath! This is quite the workout! ; ) The first mile of the trail was like this -- steep, large, loose rock downhills and me babying it all the way down. I like the trail riding thing but this was getting old and if it was going to be nothing but rock I wouldn't mind aborting this trail.
At one point, the slope took a 90* turn halfway down and is still a steep grade of bigass rock! Each "chute" was probably 20' long.
I stopped and again looked at it. That was it! At this point I am exhausted and this shows no signs of getting any more navigable. I am thinking, 'y'know if this goes nowhere we have to come back out going UP all this!'
I parked the bike and came down to talk to Skip only to hear him say "You BETTER have that bike with you!" Heh! he had already been waiting a bit on me for a bit. Since I was walking down it would be even longer.
After I got chastised for being a pussy (not really but it was almost necessary), I caught a couple breaths and ambled back up to the bike hoping to tackle this descent. I managed to dump it here too, but this one was significantly tougher than the first hill that intimidated me. Ah well this learning curve will be steep!
Skip helped me right it and this section *was* the worst of it. We hit some more downhills but that one was the toughest stretch to be sure. Those downhills were crazy with that bed of large rocks as a base to ride on.
I got the bike to where he had been (im?)patiently waiting for me all this time. It was time for a hydration break. I was soaked and out of breath! and basically just wanted to look back at that slope for a couple minutes.
It was nice though, as it was just ... soo ... quiet! Serenity!
After a few minutes in the shade enjoying the quiet, it was time to get going again. We geared up and Skip took off, then stopped. Started it up, and stopped. RuhRoh! When he let out the clutch, it would stall.
Luckily, his cell had service and he called a buddy of his for some hints as he is familiar with the bike and could google for us as well. He suggested bypassing the kickstand switch. Skip cut the wires, twisted them together, taped them up, and off we go.
YAAAAYY! That was a bit tense as we had no idea how we would get the bike out of there if it didn't work.
I had little issue navigating the rest of the trail with one exception. There was a half-buried branch oriented so that you had to cross it but the angle was off. I pointed the wheel at the angle I wanted and was looking where I wanted to go and probably not paying as close attention to where I was and when the front wheel hit, it drifted across the wet log, causing the wheel to quickly turn to the left and I was thrown down ... HARD!
It was probably only a 10 mph drop, but it hurt! my knee was slammed between the tank and the ground and where the tank hit is where it hurts. It's still tender as I type this. This drop also put a crack in the lower front fairing .
This was my third, and FINAL, drop of the day. I got it picked up and caught up to where Skip was waiting for me. He said when he didn't see me coming he KNEW where I was because he nearly lost it on that spot, too.
The rest of the trail was pretty tame and mostly just single track through the woods. There were more "whew" moments of course, but no more drops. Some muddy areas, but the rest was pretty simple to navigate. That was fine, though. My wore out little butt was ready for a little easier terrain. ; )
The part of the trail we were on ended up on a public road with no signs there indicating it was illegal to use it. So maybe where we had entered that sign didn't say "no motorcycles" after all. ; )
This road dropped us onto US 321 north of Newport about 15 miles so I knew where we were. Skip was hungry by now and so was I. We got a reuben at a coffee shop in town and compared stories of near misses and of course my misses -- that were more than near.
Heh. We did about 75 miles and it took us over 8 hours - about 55 miles of it were asphalt. I would guess the various trails we were on accounted for 5 miles or so and the rest gravel.
After that, we headed back home. We made a beer run and figured we would just grab something for dinner while out, so we hit the Food City. Skip offered to buy and cook dinner. .
Sweet! this would free up some time so I could pack for Tellico so I didn't argue none. I packed a couple cases worth of homebrew and some clothes and personal items and found room in Skip's vehicle for them and I was all set.
After dinner we loaded the bikes on the trailer and spent the rest of the evening drinking and socializing. I went to bed dreaming of the fact that more happy trails awaited us.
I recalled this area that looked like it had possibilites and it was only about 20 miles away, so we figured we would try it. It turned to gravel rather quickly and there were other gravel roads branching off it. We explored a few but most just kind of ended or were gated off.
We passed a waterfall and then I realized I had left the camera at home -- dammit! Since we weren't really finding much more than gravel dead ends we headed back to the asphalt in search of something more interesting to explore.
It was funny though as we came to our first turnaround point Skip stopped and through his helmet yelled "YAAAAYYYY MOTORCYCLES!!" and relayed to me that while he was at American Supercamp the previous weekend that when they came to a stop he would be laughing in his helmet and screaming "YAAAAYYYY MOTORCYCLES!!" -- well that became the recurrent catch phrase for the weekend! ; )
I spied a road to a firetower and since I had the lead, took it. We went back that way a couple miles and then off to the right was a single horse trail rolling off into the woods. I asked him what he thought and he said "I will follow you".
There would've been no discussion but there was a sign there that might have said no motorcycles but it was too small for me to see for sure. I was glad I removed the side bags. It wouldn't have fit in some of the places we were (including the entrance).
A few hundred yards into the trail a crest of the hill turned downwards .... STEEEEEPPP. I stopped, looked at it and put the kickstand down -- my balls shriveled up just looking at how menacing it was. Skip shut his off and looked at the grade. It was nothing but 4"-6" rock "boulders" and looked to have better than a 50* slope relative to the horizon.
Holy Crap! I keep staring at it ... I don't want to go! Going down intimidates me. Skip took the helm and descended down it on his little KLX near effortlessly. However, it still didn't look any more inviting to me.
I sat there another minute trying to convince myself to do this. I *finally* started down it.
Fear is not what you need in this situation. Not sure it was fear, as much as a COMPLETE lack of confidence. This is only my *second* time trail riding. This angle and terrain is not beginner's stuff. Add to that the KLR is not light and it's a recipe for disaster.
I dumped it -- almost immediately. Not a hard fall as I was mostly duck-walking it down and taking it easy, but one of the times I put my foot down, the rock gave, my foot slipped, and the center of gravity tipped far enough over I just quit fighting it and eased it down. Shut off the bike, position myself to pick it up, set on kickstand, get back on and again fight to convince myself to forge on.
However, in process of that I noticed a bolt missing out of the handguard. I look around for it but never did find it. No biggie, NAPA is on the way home.
I mounted the bike and made it down it, but I am already SOAKED from sweat and out of breath! This is quite the workout! ; ) The first mile of the trail was like this -- steep, large, loose rock downhills and me babying it all the way down. I like the trail riding thing but this was getting old and if it was going to be nothing but rock I wouldn't mind aborting this trail.
At one point, the slope took a 90* turn halfway down and is still a steep grade of bigass rock! Each "chute" was probably 20' long.
I stopped and again looked at it. That was it! At this point I am exhausted and this shows no signs of getting any more navigable. I am thinking, 'y'know if this goes nowhere we have to come back out going UP all this!'
I parked the bike and came down to talk to Skip only to hear him say "You BETTER have that bike with you!" Heh! he had already been waiting a bit on me for a bit. Since I was walking down it would be even longer.
After I got chastised for being a pussy (not really but it was almost necessary), I caught a couple breaths and ambled back up to the bike hoping to tackle this descent. I managed to dump it here too, but this one was significantly tougher than the first hill that intimidated me.
Skip helped me right it and this section *was* the worst of it. We hit some more downhills but that one was the toughest stretch to be sure. Those downhills were crazy with that bed of large rocks as a base to ride on.
I got the bike to where he had been (im?)patiently waiting for me all this time. It was time for a hydration break. I was soaked and out of breath! and basically just wanted to look back at that slope for a couple minutes.
It was nice though, as it was just ... soo ... quiet! Serenity!
After a few minutes in the shade enjoying the quiet, it was time to get going again. We geared up and Skip took off, then stopped. Started it up, and stopped. RuhRoh! When he let out the clutch, it would stall.
Luckily, his cell had service and he called a buddy of his for some hints as he is familiar with the bike and could google for us as well. He suggested bypassing the kickstand switch. Skip cut the wires, twisted them together, taped them up, and off we go.
YAAAAYY! That was a bit tense as we had no idea how we would get the bike out of there if it didn't work.
I had little issue navigating the rest of the trail with one exception. There was a half-buried branch oriented so that you had to cross it but the angle was off. I pointed the wheel at the angle I wanted and was looking where I wanted to go and probably not paying as close attention to where I was and when the front wheel hit, it drifted across the wet log, causing the wheel to quickly turn to the left and I was thrown down ... HARD!
It was probably only a 10 mph drop, but it hurt! my knee was slammed between the tank and the ground and where the tank hit is where it hurts. It's still tender as I type this. This drop also put a crack in the lower front fairing .
This was my third, and FINAL, drop of the day. I got it picked up and caught up to where Skip was waiting for me. He said when he didn't see me coming he KNEW where I was because he nearly lost it on that spot, too.
The rest of the trail was pretty tame and mostly just single track through the woods. There were more "whew" moments of course, but no more drops. Some muddy areas, but the rest was pretty simple to navigate. That was fine, though. My wore out little butt was ready for a little easier terrain. ; )
The part of the trail we were on ended up on a public road with no signs there indicating it was illegal to use it. So maybe where we had entered that sign didn't say "no motorcycles" after all. ; )
This road dropped us onto US 321 north of Newport about 15 miles so I knew where we were. Skip was hungry by now and so was I. We got a reuben at a coffee shop in town and compared stories of near misses and of course my misses -- that were more than near.
Heh. We did about 75 miles and it took us over 8 hours - about 55 miles of it were asphalt. I would guess the various trails we were on accounted for 5 miles or so and the rest gravel.
After that, we headed back home. We made a beer run and figured we would just grab something for dinner while out, so we hit the Food City. Skip offered to buy and cook dinner. .
Sweet! this would free up some time so I could pack for Tellico so I didn't argue none. I packed a couple cases worth of homebrew and some clothes and personal items and found room in Skip's vehicle for them and I was all set.
After dinner we loaded the bikes on the trailer and spent the rest of the evening drinking and socializing. I went to bed dreaming of the fact that more happy trails awaited us.
Loggin' miles
We had planned to arrive at Hunt's Lodge right around noon on Friday. That meant leaving here by 10 AM. After all, all we had to do was to jump in and go. Melissa suggested making up an omelet for breakfast and so we postponed our departure time by a little but were still able to make the campground by noon (almost exactly). Perfect!
As I was setting up camp, Skip yelled "What are you doing?" I thought what I was doing was fairly obvious so I looked at him quizzically. He said "It's daylight still! Do you even know how to put it up in the daytime?" Heh! smartass!
Tent erected, beer on ice and available, bikes unloaded, time to roll! Jack Hunt had given me some recommendations on some areas to ride but I forgot to find it on the map the previous night. I asked Lori and she was unfamiliar with it but said that if you took Epperson some 12 miles away it would lead you to dual sport roads .... Cool!
Found Epperson pretty easily and a mile off 68 there was Cannon Ridge Rd, that Jack suggested to start from. Yay!
We took that and it soon turned into gravel. A couple miles along there was this triple hump entrance to some trail into the woods. I looked at Skip and he at me and we both grinned.
Off we go ....
Heh I was carrying some speed over that third hump and I felt the front wheel loft a bit .... Ooops! Luckily, bars were still straight when the wheel touched down and I just kept on going. We are rolling along this little path that was so indistinct in spots that there were times i was curious if we were still on it.
The trail started climbing uphill. There was this one hill that I came to and lost momentum near the top. I grabbed the front brake and slowly let myself down backwards and gave it another go!
I'm spinning! Yippee! it had been raining the past few days on and off so it's muddy.
I was able after a couple tries to free myself of it and crest the hill, but my temp gauge was at 3/4 and fan was rolling so I just shut it off. Skip came back thinking I needed help and I told him I was cooling my engine. We sat there for a few minutes once again enjoying the quiet. So peaceful.
After a few minutes, fired it up and we continued on. This trail was nowhere near as tough as what we saw yesterday. There were still challenging parts but I wasn't near as intimidated by what we were going through this time.
Today though was more stumps, branches, logs lying across the middle of the trail. Some of them were pretty good size. I had to teach myself to just pull back on the throttle and go. We were at about this point here ....
when I got caught on a log (it's behind this point.I was stuck.
I couldn't move. SHIT! SHIT!SHIT!SHIT!
The swingarm was planted on the log. I couldn't get the bike to power over it as there was no traction. I couldn't put the kickstand down and get off it because the log was in the way of the swing angle. I could barely flatfoot so I couldn't roll myself fore nor aft.
I was screwed. I basically had to sit there and wait until Skip come to help.
I suppose I could have lowered it to the ground and lifted it up off the log, but didn't see the point if I didn't have to. Skip came and gave me a little push and that was all that KLR needed.
Again, I am soaked from wrestling with this thing. So we stayed there a couple minutes, hydrated and rested, snapped a couple pics and back at it.
We continued down this trail a bit but soon had to turn back around. Yeeha! another bout with this log. I am on the gas and it got a bit squirrely and ... you guessed it .... dumped it again. Got it picked up and was able to get past it this time.
I think that was the only (unplanned) drop of the day. We continue on another trail and then onto another and come to this nice 180* ridge view so we stopped and got some more pics.
This trail wound down the mountainside and eventually we came to a place where there was a tree felled across the trail at a 45* angle. It was waaaayy too big for us to move, we had no chainsaw (as it was about 18" diameter) but there was enough room between where it touched ground that we could probably lay the bikes on their sides and drag them under the tree. There was no safe way around this tree. Below there was a 4' drop off and above it was a 6' steep climb with trees in the way.
We would've turned around but there was a gravel road on the other side of this tree, so we decided to drag them under and see where the gravel road went instead of backtracking. So this is what we did.
We got his KLX through with little problem (which we expected) but my KLR was a little more work. We managed to get it through, but were pretty spent from it. We sat there a few minutes and in doing so, I noticed my shifter was now bent. Apparently, it got hung on something as we pulled it under.
I reach in my toolbag and we remove the shifter peg and are using two rocks to kind of beat it out until I can get it to pivot. It was better but I still couldn't shift it when sitting ON the bike. I could when standing next to it but not sitting on it.
I didn't realize this until we had started down the road a bit. I tried getting Skip's attention but was unsuccessful and I couldn't catch him being stuck in first gear. We came to a turn and that is when I told him.
We no longer had any rocks to use and were actually to 68 by now, but I didn't want to run this thing in first gear the whole way so I went into a parking lot, grabbed the shifter with my hand and put it in second gear. I can still take off in second but it lugs. However, it's not running at 5-6K RPMs going 30 mph for 6 miles back to camp. I could run 40-50 comfortably now. That's better.
We got back to Hunt's and I removed the shifter and put it in the vice and tried bending it to an angle that would work more effectively. Thanks to Bob Nelson. He was able to spot that the angle was not right to gain the leverage necessary to move it. We tinkered with it a few times and a quick test run around the lodge and it was workable.
Tina and Mike planned on ordering up some pizzas for everyone. Wow! what an ordeal. It seemed to take an hour and a half to put together that order. Thanks to both of ya. After dinner time passed too quickly and I eventually wandered off to my tent as well.
Tryin' not to get in a rut!
I had been up late (early?) and had no inclination to get up in the morning. In fact, even when hearing the cowbell ringing signifying breakfast was ready, I laid there momentarily convincing myself to get my lazy bum up.
It was probably a good move. After a breakfast of eggs, hash brown casserole, bacon, biscuits, gravy, goetta, home fries, I felt much better and was ready to go.
We hung around for a while but eventually formulated a plan. Erik Kauppi was riding with us on Mike Freeman's DRZ400SM. He knew of a gravel road that went from the base of the Cherahola to TN-68 then we could take the road up to Buck Bald. That works.
When we got to 68 Skip and Erik switched bikes. The view up on Buck's Bald never gets old. It offers a 360* panoramic view that is second to none. Here is about half of it ...
And it's quiet! With the exception of a passing airplane you hear no manmade noise up here at all. Nice!
From there we headed back towards camp. We stayed there briefly and watched Sean fight getting his tire to seat the bead. After a bit we headed out again with Jack leading us to a 600 acre "playground". There were gravel roads everywhere. Most were highly rutted logging roads but there were other trails branching off all over the place.
Again, just a few minutes in and I am wringing wet with sweat. Skip said "you don't see many fat motocrossers" Heh, i reckon not!
We played in that for about maybe an hour before heading back to camp yet again. I managed to make it through this day without one drop. Erik had some issues but that DRZ shod with street tires didn't offer him much of a chance on some of that terrain. These roads were rutted real bad if you take a bad line it wouldn't be too hard to fall into it.
Once back at camp, a beer run was in order then the rest of the night would be at the campground hanging out.
Soon the dinner bell was rung and the line of hungry maggots began filling their plates and bellies with a feast of smoked, pulled pork, slaw, potato salad, deviled eggs, green beans and more. Yum!
And again the night passed by all to quickly.
It was a standing room only crowd down by the firepit Saturday evening. At one point Terry Phillips' widow gave an emotional and heartfelt thank you to all who contributed. It seems that $3000 was raised and they won't need to sell off some personal belongings as a result. This is such an awesome group!
What a great weekend! So many good friends and memories are made (and revisited) at each and every event.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
as it turns out
My hops field has gotten out of hand. I wasn't expecting them to be ready this early but they have taken off. Melissa and I did get out there last week and string up the lines, but there were two plants where the stakes had come up so I still needed to stake and string those two.
It's a crude picture but you get the idea. It's hard to believe, but just three weeks ago, they were just budding through the ground.
For reference, the ones in the middle are taller than I. The peak where the lines converge is about 14' above the ground?
There is still work to do (always with a garden, right?), but I am content with it for now. Just to the right of this picture is the lower entry/exit of the road loop around the property that will eventually be blazed. I need to get the chainsaw sharpened, but that is another "day".
So with that done, I farted around in the garage a bit, fiddling with various unfinished projects, mostly lathe stuff and I was having no success with any of it.
My bandsaw blade keeps popping off. It is basically wore out. I have tensioned it as much as I can and it still pops off. So i cannot use it to cut a log.
The Poulan chainsaw keeps popping off the circlip/e-clip that holds the drive sprocket on. It usually lasts about half a log before ejecting it. The Stihl is too dull to cut butter. So I got ALL this damn wood lying around and I cannot cut it up for lathe use. GRR!
I tried to chuck up a goblet I had been working on but got nowhere with it as the lateral forces are too much for the small amount of hold the chuck has. I need to fab up a spindle rest that will support the piece closer to where the stresses are coming from. I have found one online and have the basic idea of how to do it, just need some materials.
Meanwhile, these two set waiting such a time as I have made it up -->
I can't cut up any wood, can't work the pieces I have started ... I am really wanting to turn something so I started poking around the scrap pile. I have the base of a lighthouse lamp and am in need of a small piece for the top that will work with it. During my poking around I came across a log of that spalted birch that had a "fatal" crack in it.
I have been wanting to make an egg for Melissa for Easter. This spalted wood would be just perfect to use. The piece I'm looking at has a crack in it that will most likely be transferred into the piece.
A cracked egg? HA! I love it!
Well as it began to take it's form, apparently the crack wasn't as deep into the piece as it looked as the crack had all but disappeared. There is still a little one but it is hard to see. Yeesh, any other time you would be happy to remove that imperfection, but when you want it? ;)
It will be interesting to see if it manifests itself more as it dries. Here is a pic of the egg ...
Heh. when done I took it inside and tossed it to Melissa and said Happy Easter to my favorite cracked egg. ;)
Besides that, they were growing everywhere. I really needed to trim back all but 2-3 shoots per root. At least that is the generally accepted wisdom. That way, the plant isn't expending it's energy on a bunch of little bines but can put it forth into 2 or 3 different ones and *they* produce more that way. Last year I let them all grow to establish a good root, this year it will be all about yield.
So anyway, I cut the extra shoots off and stripped back the first foot of leaves to help the soil aerate better. Here is what they look like right now ...
It's a crude picture but you get the idea. It's hard to believe, but just three weeks ago, they were just budding through the ground.
For reference, the ones in the middle are taller than I. The peak where the lines converge is about 14' above the ground?
There is still work to do (always with a garden, right?), but I am content with it for now. Just to the right of this picture is the lower entry/exit of the road loop around the property that will eventually be blazed. I need to get the chainsaw sharpened, but that is another "day".
So with that done, I farted around in the garage a bit, fiddling with various unfinished projects, mostly lathe stuff and I was having no success with any of it.
My bandsaw blade keeps popping off. It is basically wore out. I have tensioned it as much as I can and it still pops off. So i cannot use it to cut a log.
The Poulan chainsaw keeps popping off the circlip/e-clip that holds the drive sprocket on. It usually lasts about half a log before ejecting it. The Stihl is too dull to cut butter. So I got ALL this damn wood lying around and I cannot cut it up for lathe use. GRR!
I tried to chuck up a goblet I had been working on but got nowhere with it as the lateral forces are too much for the small amount of hold the chuck has. I need to fab up a spindle rest that will support the piece closer to where the stresses are coming from. I have found one online and have the basic idea of how to do it, just need some materials.
Meanwhile, these two set waiting such a time as I have made it up -->
I can't cut up any wood, can't work the pieces I have started ... I am really wanting to turn something so I started poking around the scrap pile. I have the base of a lighthouse lamp and am in need of a small piece for the top that will work with it. During my poking around I came across a log of that spalted birch that had a "fatal" crack in it.
I have been wanting to make an egg for Melissa for Easter. This spalted wood would be just perfect to use. The piece I'm looking at has a crack in it that will most likely be transferred into the piece.
A cracked egg? HA! I love it!
Well as it began to take it's form, apparently the crack wasn't as deep into the piece as it looked as the crack had all but disappeared. There is still a little one but it is hard to see. Yeesh, any other time you would be happy to remove that imperfection, but when you want it?
It will be interesting to see if it manifests itself more as it dries. Here is a pic of the egg ...
Heh. when done I took it inside and tossed it to Melissa and said Happy Easter to my favorite cracked egg. ;)
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
I was sitting next to the firepit yesterday morning and just listenin’ to the creek runnin’ because of the rains from last night all the while listenin’ to the dogs in the neighborhood barkin’ ‘bout this and that and the birds singin’ and all the cacophony that is associated with settin’ out in the woods. While it’s not in the woods, it can be peaceful.
The sky was a beautiful blue and there were a few thin wispy white clouds. It was pastoral!
Then I saw the shadow of a bird fly over head and it happened to be a hawk. It’s wingspan was about 3’, maybe 4’. That was neat in itself, but then he circled around just above a clearing in the trees soaring in the currents with a light tip of his primary feathers to adjust direction.
It was looking for food I am sure, but it was really cool to watch him circle around above where I was. It circled probably a half dozen times.
Dammitall! Wouldn’t you know I didn’t have the camera with me? I knew if I went inside to get it the hawk would be gone and I would have just missed seeing the last of it's circling the area.
Bummer too, because with the textured backdrop of thin white wispy clouds on that blue sky, there could have been some cool shots.
The sky was a beautiful blue and there were a few thin wispy white clouds. It was pastoral!
Then I saw the shadow of a bird fly over head and it happened to be a hawk. It’s wingspan was about 3’, maybe 4’. That was neat in itself, but then he circled around just above a clearing in the trees soaring in the currents with a light tip of his primary feathers to adjust direction.
It was looking for food I am sure, but it was really cool to watch him circle around above where I was. It circled probably a half dozen times.
Dammitall! Wouldn’t you know I didn’t have the camera with me? I knew if I went inside to get it the hawk would be gone and I would have just missed seeing the last of it's circling the area.
Bummer too, because with the textured backdrop of thin white wispy clouds on that blue sky, there could have been some cool shots.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
the christening ...
Yesterday's weather was forecast to be about 80* and mostly sunny. So I got the 1250 out for a bit. Man! that thing is so smooth it's dangerous! It never once "felt" fast, although you would look down at speedo and be like "whoa!"
So I am in dire need of chain lube as I had used the last of what
I had on the 600 when putting on its new chain and sprockets. I headed up to Morristown to the local shop I deal with and grabbed a can of Chain Wax, applied it and then headed over to Knoxville to grab some brews for later. From there, I would decide where to go.
With those "chores" done, it was time to go ride somewhere. I decided I would head down to Hunt's Lodge and bug Lori. The easiest and funnest way is to head down 129 (besides the Dragon will be all mine -- it's Monday and early in the "season") so that's what I did. Anyway 129 goes right past the airport and it is pretty common to see an airliner up close and personal as it comes in to land. It's not an international airport, but it is always busy.
As I went by I noticed out of the corner of my eye (they would be taxiing in from behind me when headed south) I see what doesn't look to be a regular passenger liner... at all. I look over and it's one of the Blue Angels coming in, and right behind him was another. The second one passed right over me as i was in that tangent to the runway. I could see the innards of the landing gear he was that low. It was pretty cool!
Once I got to the dragon, i saw that the photographers were out so appraently it's not that dead but I still had a relatively free run of it. On a whim I turned left on NC-28 and took it all the way down to 64 (I still LOVE that stretch of 28 between 74 and 64). It's so fun I cannot resist going there if in the "area".
I figured i could cut back west on US 64 to pick up TN-68. However, you got to really love both of those roads to incorporate them on the same ride as that hour long slog on 64 really has you questioning why you went this way.
Upon reaching 68, I once again had the road mostly to myself. Those times I did approach slower vehicles, just one blip of the throttle and it was no longer an issue. Yeah baby!
That 3 mile stretch just to the north of the creek as you are gaining elevation in those wide sweeping turns is just too much fun! I admit I think I may have been in violation of the speed limit in this section. ; )
When I got up to the campground, no one was there. So I left and headed across the Skyway, and then one more run up the Dragon. A couple of those turns on the Dragon had me exiting at 55 ish and another at 64 this thing is dangerous-smooth!
I was fast, but it didn't feel it. I never touched a peg down at any point yesterday, but the speedo kept telling me I wasn't slow.
Just before I got to the Dragon I could see the skies to the northeast were rather dark ... well, black, and there was really no way of avoiding it. Crud! with such a glowing weather forecast I didn't pack any rain gear at all.
I could likely minimize it by slogging through it going north, or head east. If I went east I would likely get caught in it twice. So I went north.
It was about a half hour or so of steadily sprinkling. Once I got north of Maryville though it cleared out and the rest of the ride home was dry and rather uneventful as it was dark by now. I just slabbed it on home from Knoxville.
I am really impressed with how smooth this bike is. You never really feel like you're going too fast nor that you are out of control. I missed a couple entries but this bike is so forgiving you can power out or just lean it a bit more to counter any misjudgments.
It's so smooth in fact, it got named. I now call it Cloud9 because it is just that smooth. Plus it puts that Cloud 9 grin on my face so she has been christened. ; )
I have yet to get it over 7K RPM. I don't feel the need to. It really delivers well up to 7K and after 5K things start happening ... FAST!! I am sure with more miles I will explore it's capabilities more.
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