Saturday. 21st February, 2009:
Today was a BIG DAY for Mr._Bill on his "TriceQ" recumbent tricycle - a new personal best in terms of both overall mileage (40.6 miles) as well as average speed (11.3 mph) ... I've averaged over 14 mph before - but only for an hour or so ... However, in this trip of 40.6 miles, today, I had some 'brief breaks':::
Tuesday, 17th February, 2009: Lots of thingS have / are happeninginginging
Sunday, 8th of February, 2009: - We went PARAGLIDING today - well - yeah - tethered to the beach - and it took two people (BIG GUYS) to hold-down Ms._May but we went - and it was pretty slick fun...
anyway - here's a picture of her, above (extracted from some video I took)
here's a 'link' to our gallery-web-site for you to see a VERY SHORT iMovie of us.. - NO editing has been done ...
Mr._Jeff (the real mover and shaker behind the Stuart Aerial Circus) got well over a 1/2 hour in his paraglider, today... He's a very good pilot, very smooth and controlled; exactly what you MUST BE in order to fly close to a building in an up-draft...
The "Upgrade" to the membership, though, is now full & final... Mr._Bill has been unanimously elected as 'web-master' / 'videographer' / 'newsletter editor' (and writer, publisher, etc.), and Ms._May is the second female member (behind Ms._Lisa, of the 'board' because of her 'association' with Mr._Ned) of the 'Stuart Aerial Circus'.
We've been given a pardon since we do NOT consume copious quantities of 'adult beverages' when / while we fly - so therefore we've been elected to these 'senior' positions of authority, responsibility and great respect. Not - you understand - that we DESERVE these titles / positions, but there was no-one-else to hold them...
Next Step with the SAC = "Stuart Aerial Circus" should be, I'm guessing, here:
Ms._Huggly and I went cycling today (Sunday, 1 February)... found this pair of Sandhill Cranes in a 'development that never was'. This development is actually quite nearby, though a place we'd not been cycling before... (the building you see in the background is an open-air, but under-roof equestrian center... (though is NOT PART of the 'development that never was' (>_Meadow_Run_<)
Then we went to yet another 'develoment that never was' (there are a lot of these around here) - and this one was supposedly going to be a polo club - but - well - anyway. We saw a BULL with HORNS. I recollect reading that these guys (if provoked (though no one ever says what 'provokes' them)) can run WAY FASTER than I can pedal - so you can imagine that it was not a hospitable place. We copied down some phone-numbers and such - but the bottom-line is that it's still a long way from bicycle-riding or polo-playing by a VERY LONG SHOT!...
Then we saw a BUNCH (three actually) of grey pick-up-trucks with blue lights atop - we were NOT impressed - they were all sitting under a shade-tree chatting. We suspect they belonged to the _Florida_Fish_and_Wildlife_Commission_ but we're not sure?
Here, though, (a bit farther west, in our county (Martin_County)) is a " Martin_County_/_South_Florida_Water_Management_District_/_Florida_Fish_and_Wildlife_Commission " park called " Allapattah Park "... - some 20,000 plus acres of land - mostly open-prarie type land - with SOME bike-paths on it (though they are 'hard-packed-lime-rock - they are not 'smooth' (like tarmac))... ??? - anyway - here's a link to a ...pdf file-map.
We tried to cycle in a couple of other places but the number of fences / gate-houses kept us out of some and then the motorcycle group(s) kept us out of other places... We DID DISCOVER, though a great sidewalk of about 4 1/2 miles - not much to look at but it looks like a good sidewalk for riding on...
Then we returned home - via Publix and shopping to get a phone-call from some guys I met while Hang Gliding a couple of weeks ago. They were nearby doing paraglider lessons / ground-handling practice, and I'm supposed to give them kiteboarding lessons in trade... We'll see how all this works out? Anyway, I drove out and had a good time watching, iPhone-picutring, videoing and mostly asking questions and watching.
However, I was called into service to be a 'mule' (that is to pull this guy down the beach for 10-20 seconds) and then he releases the tow-rope (very much like in the hang-gliding thing) and he soars around this old hotel for a while then lands on the beach... Pretty nifty afternoon activity, except I realized that running on the sandy-beach while pulling a paraglider is a LOT of WORK - way more than Tricycle riding...
Incidentally - this is NOT ME
- in this picture - but a friend of mine... However, membership in the S.A.C. (Stuart Aeronautical Circus) is very very limited, and I'm not yet a 'full' member' because I don't consume enough 'adult beverages'. This is an un-used (for sale (if anyone is interested!)) ex-Holiday Inn on the beach nearby...
AND _ THOUGH _ I'm CERTAIN that to some this appears REALLY DANGEROUS - it's actually NOT AT ALL - and I may not
do what this guy's doing (he has YEARS of experience) - I MIGHT be tempted to learn to do this paragliding thing.... ... ...
Here are two FULL members ( _Jeff_ and _Ned_ ) in the SAC...
Here's a link to a video of these two_guys working on some 'ground-handling' technique with the paraglider... I'll leave it to you to figure out who is the instructor and who is the student...
Some, who shall remain nameless, need help with video-format-issues, here is their "Video Test" web-page, for others, don't bother...
Documentation on (some) of the (TriceQ - recumbent tricycle trips I rode during the month of November can be seen in the November BeachWeb page.
Mr. Bill's best hang-gliding-flight (Ever) - see the FlightLog.Org web-page, here...
Today was a BIG DAY for Mr._Bill on his "TriceQ" recumbent tricycle - a new personal best in terms of both overall mileage (40.6 miles) as well as average speed (11.3 mph) ... I've averaged over 14 mph before - but only for an hour or so ... However, in this trip of 40.6 miles, today, I had some 'brief breaks':::
- The first at 12.6 miles into the trip was back at home to 'flip' the lower jockey-pulley (to quiet-down the noise) on the rear deraileur (this first portion (12.6 miles) is red in the above image)
- The second break was at "The Village Bike Shop" in Hobe Sound - where Julie and Brian helped me order some new jockey-pulleys, which should be in next Friday(27th), (this second portion is green (9.4 miles) in the above image)
- The third break was at about 33 miles into the trip when I stopped at a gas-station to get some Gatorade (now called simply "G") and a candy bar... (the third section is blue (19.6 miles) in the above image (and it ends at home, though it is 'behind' the green track so it's hard to see)...
Tuesday, 17th February, 2009: Lots of thingS have / are happeninginginging
- We're now 'destined (made airline reservations, that is!) ' to be in Phoenix, for a while, later this year, to visit & confere and such
- Mr._Bill's working on rebuilding the (aging & rotten) Jacuzzi deck (pictures: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine) - note the key-word here is WORK... - a lot of ROT and more and more ROT as I remove more and more decking...---UUGGHH!!
- Ms._May had another (long) weekend session of judging (of sailboat_racing).
- Mr._Bill had another 'ground-handling' _paragliding_session_ recently and did very well; maybe next time we'll fly a bit? There is a very short movie of some great flying by our wonderful instructor, Mr._Jeff_ here's the link
- Weather has NOT been 'great' for 'flying_sports'; however, Monday, 16th it was terrific for boardsailing (for Mr._Bill; Ms._May was judging).
- Ms._SiewMei; our beloved cat, has had a new 'sun-ray-window-sill-pillow-place' installed for her, and she likes it a lot; since she now has TWO dedicated morning-sun-worshipping spots...
- Our tomatoe plants are growing like crazy and in a few weeks we should have LOTs of tomatoes
- We spent most of Valentine's Day (14th) at "The_Florida_Ridge" for what turned-out to be a bad day to hang-glide. (Mr._Bill had one very rough flight) Ms._May didn't get a chance to fly at all. - very disappointing all around. The 'tug-plane' was overheating, and the eventual diagnosis was that maybe it needed a new water-pump...
Sunday, 8th of February, 2009: - We went PARAGLIDING today - well - yeah - tethered to the beach - and it took two people (BIG GUYS) to hold-down Ms._May but we went - and it was pretty slick fun...
anyway - here's a picture of her, above (extracted from some video I took)
here's a 'link' to our gallery-web-site for you to see a VERY SHORT iMovie of us.. - NO editing has been done ...
Mr._Jeff (the real mover and shaker behind the Stuart Aerial Circus) got well over a 1/2 hour in his paraglider, today... He's a very good pilot, very smooth and controlled; exactly what you MUST BE in order to fly close to a building in an up-draft...
The "Upgrade" to the membership, though, is now full & final... Mr._Bill has been unanimously elected as 'web-master' / 'videographer' / 'newsletter editor' (and writer, publisher, etc.), and Ms._May is the second female member (behind Ms._Lisa, of the 'board' because of her 'association' with Mr._Ned) of the 'Stuart Aerial Circus'.
We've been given a pardon since we do NOT consume copious quantities of 'adult beverages' when / while we fly - so therefore we've been elected to these 'senior' positions of authority, responsibility and great respect. Not - you understand - that we DESERVE these titles / positions, but there was no-one-else to hold them...
Next Step with the SAC = "Stuart Aerial Circus" should be, I'm guessing, here:
- Tee Shirts (saying "Staff" or "Crew" or "Chief of this or VP of that")
- Hats - baseball and other types with some logo on it?
- Button-down-collared-shirts with logo and so-on
- Sun-block with our logo / advertising on it...
- Ice Chests / water coolers / etc.
- Maybe a fancy new paraglider?
- Maybe a beach-kiosk to collect entertainment dollars from beach-goers?
- (that would then be used to purchase water and adult beverages (the sun is ONLY going to get HOTTER!)
- Whatever else we can find to spend our NON-Existant (membership) funds on!
Ms._Huggly and I went cycling today (Sunday, 1 February)... found this pair of Sandhill Cranes in a 'development that never was'. This development is actually quite nearby, though a place we'd not been cycling before... (the building you see in the background is an open-air, but under-roof equestrian center... (though is NOT PART of the 'development that never was' (>_Meadow_Run_<)
Then we went to yet another 'develoment that never was' (there are a lot of these around here) - and this one was supposedly going to be a polo club - but - well - anyway. We saw a BULL with HORNS. I recollect reading that these guys (if provoked (though no one ever says what 'provokes' them)) can run WAY FASTER than I can pedal - so you can imagine that it was not a hospitable place. We copied down some phone-numbers and such - but the bottom-line is that it's still a long way from bicycle-riding or polo-playing by a VERY LONG SHOT!...
Then we saw a BUNCH (three actually) of grey pick-up-trucks with blue lights atop - we were NOT impressed - they were all sitting under a shade-tree chatting. We suspect they belonged to the _Florida_Fish_and_Wildlife_Commission_ but we're not sure?
Here, though, (a bit farther west, in our county (Martin_County)) is a " Martin_County_/_South_Florida_Water_Management_District_/_Florida_Fish_and_Wildlife_Commission " park called " Allapattah Park "... - some 20,000 plus acres of land - mostly open-prarie type land - with SOME bike-paths on it (though they are 'hard-packed-lime-rock - they are not 'smooth' (like tarmac))... ??? - anyway - here's a link to a ...pdf file-map.
We tried to cycle in a couple of other places but the number of fences / gate-houses kept us out of some and then the motorcycle group(s) kept us out of other places... We DID DISCOVER, though a great sidewalk of about 4 1/2 miles - not much to look at but it looks like a good sidewalk for riding on...
Then we returned home - via Publix and shopping to get a phone-call from some guys I met while Hang Gliding a couple of weeks ago. They were nearby doing paraglider lessons / ground-handling practice, and I'm supposed to give them kiteboarding lessons in trade... We'll see how all this works out? Anyway, I drove out and had a good time watching, iPhone-picutring, videoing and mostly asking questions and watching.
However, I was called into service to be a 'mule' (that is to pull this guy down the beach for 10-20 seconds) and then he releases the tow-rope (very much like in the hang-gliding thing) and he soars around this old hotel for a while then lands on the beach... Pretty nifty afternoon activity, except I realized that running on the sandy-beach while pulling a paraglider is a LOT of WORK - way more than Tricycle riding...
Incidentally - this is NOT ME
- in this picture - but a friend of mine... However, membership in the S.A.C. (Stuart Aeronautical Circus) is very very limited, and I'm not yet a 'full' member' because I don't consume enough 'adult beverages'. This is an un-used (for sale (if anyone is interested!)) ex-Holiday Inn on the beach nearby...
AND _ THOUGH _ I'm CERTAIN that to some this appears REALLY DANGEROUS - it's actually NOT AT ALL - and I may not
do what this guy's doing (he has YEARS of experience) - I MIGHT be tempted to learn to do this paragliding thing.... ... ...
Here are two FULL members ( _Jeff_ and _Ned_ ) in the SAC...
Here's a link to a video of these two_guys working on some 'ground-handling' technique with the paraglider... I'll leave it to you to figure out who is the instructor and who is the student...
Some, who shall remain nameless, need help with video-format-issues, here is their "Video Test" web-page, for others, don't bother...
Documentation on (some) of the (TriceQ - recumbent tricycle trips I rode during the month of November can be seen in the November BeachWeb page.
Mr. Bill's best hang-gliding-flight (Ever) - see the FlightLog.Org web-page, here...
and-or see the track-log over Google Earth Image(s), here... small_image larger_image (1 megabyte)
Archived BeachWeb monthly site(s): Click here for a list of the archived months
Some people have asked, WHERE can I FIND, "X" - whatever the heck "X" is?; but in my case - these two things are being asked about...
The "Tire Changing Web-Page" and/or the VANC (VikingAsia (Networks and Computers) Consulting) web-page.
Archived BeachWeb monthly site(s): Click here for a list of the archived months
Some people have asked, WHERE can I FIND, "X" - whatever the heck "X" is?; but in my case - these two things are being asked about...
The "Tire Changing Web-Page" and/or the VANC (VikingAsia (Networks and Computers) Consulting) web-page.
updated: 16:06 p.m. on Saturday, 21 February, 2009 - revID: 1j