Tire fun

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I forgot I had even taken this picture, I found it this weekend. This is what a tire looks after a race. One would think that it’s in awful condition, but that’s actually how they’re supposed to look. Race tires are vastly different than street tires.

One’s first impression of a “race tire” might be that it’s super sticky. Not at first; in fact, race tires are harder than street tires until they get hot due to high speed and extreme cornering. It’s unlikely you’ll ever see a race tire get hot enough on the street to look like this one, especially on North Dakota roads. I’ve gotten street tires close, but that’s a different matter.

The rubber balled up on the edges is also normal; it’s the balled-up gummy rubber on the edges that helps with traction at extreme lean, when I’m dragging my knee on the ground. The track surface at the edge of the racing line will typically have lots of little flung rubber balls on it.

Once these tires do get up to temperature on the track, though, they’re sticky like you wouldn’t believe. One time at Brainerd I crashed in the super tight corner nicknamed the “Bus Stop,” because that’s where everybody gets off at one time or another. While we pushed my bike through the gravel trap to transport it back to the pits, gravel rocks the size of quarters were stuck to the tire like sprinkles on a donut. Now THAT is a sticky tire!

I know this post didn’t really have a local theme to it, but I’ve really been pining for the track lately. Having a baby on the way really has me doubtful about returning to racing in the future, although I’m just about bursting with the need to turn some hard laps!

Friday night sunset

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The sunset on Friday night didn’t look like it was shaping up to be anything particularly spectacular, but then I noticed that the real show was going on in the southern sky. This enormous cloud formation had not only dramatic lines but also a brilliant array of color from the setting sun.

This cloud faced the sun with a huge upswept front, catching a big chunk of the spectrum from top to bottom. As we watched from Hillside Park, it slowly faded from pink to blue as the sun crept beyond the horizon.

What’s neat about clouds like this is that they tend to get their color after the sun has appeared to set to those of us on the ground. With that in mind, you can enjoy a beautiful sunset, then turn to any really tall clouds in the area and take in all the colors they catch from 20,000 to 30,000 feet. Their colorful show doesn’t begin until the sun reaches the horizon from their point of view. It’s like two shows for the price of one…except they’re free already.

I miss Perman’s

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This former Sinclair station fades into obscurity along east Main Avenue in Bismarck. While it’s not really in prime real estate now, this station had a long history. And, after paying six bucks a gallon for race fuel the other day, I miss it more than ever.

I bet that local motorheads all miss Perman’s for a variety of reasons, the most recent of which is the fact that they sold VP race fuel right at the pump. A guy could whip into the station with a trailer of bikes and gas ’em up right there, fill the spare cans, and put normal gas into the truck as well. And it was at a very nice price…of course, even regular street gas was priced pretty low the last time I was able to fill up at Perman’s.

Nowadays the options for race fuel are more expensive, and a guy can’t do it himself. I don’t know of many other store operators that would be willing to allocate one of their tanks to VP, Power 110, or the Turbo Blue that I use. The next nearest that comes to mind is in Brainerd, right outside the track.

I have a friend / former coworker who’s an old motorhead from way back… I suppose I can say the 1960’s if I don’t mention his name. He remembers the station from a long time back as well. While I don’t have the long chain of memories of the place, I share his sentiment in missing an establishment that provided a service for us performance-minded types that few would.

Say…if there are any Wannenbergs reading this post… does it give you any ideas? Please?

It’s easy being (Kawasaki) green

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This character makes it look easy, anyway. The critter you’re looking at is a lacewing, found near gardens and other habitable locations. If you see these flying about, be happy! They eliminate lots of common pests and are considered a beneficial insect. You can even buy lacewing eggs for use in your flowerbeds and gardens.

It’s appropriate that this little guy sat on my motorcycle seat. I wonder if he knows he’s Kawasaki green? Perhaps he just thinks that motorcycles are Lacewing Green.

Digging at the OWLS

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I was surprised to find some major excavation going on at the OWLS site east of Bismarck today. To say “OWLS site” is like saying “PIN number” because OWLS stands for Outdoor Wildlife Learning Site. So if that’s one of your pet peeves, too bad. There are other OWLS in the area, by the way. One of them is on west Century Avenue.

They’re obviously trying to make the channel of the manmade lake deeper. Now is probably the best time to do it, but I sure hope it’s able to fill up before the fall migration season. Lakes like this are a waypoint for migrating bird species as well as photographers. Right now the OWLS lake, which is fed by a natural stream running along the east edge of Bismarck, is in dire need of more water.

The floating bridge I was standing on for these photos is drooping badly, and areas I never thought would be exposed to the air are poking well above the watermark. I don’t know what that does to the wildlife, but it can’t be fun. Hopefully we’ll get enough rain to stock it up again soon!

Monday night moon

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Sure…it’s already Wednesday. What can I say, I’ve been busy! This is how the moon looked when I pulled into Taco Bell to grab some late night munchies. The clouds were trying to obscure it but that wasn’t likely to happen.

This is actually a composite of two photos I took at the time. It’s impossible to get the detail of the moon if I leave the iris open enough to get the light scattering through the clouds; doing that makes the moon a giant gold circle. So I took one with the iris open, one with it closed a bit more. I then composited the two together to show you what Monday night’s moon looked like.

I don’t mind Photoshopping a picture here and there; nearly every exposure can benefit from a little bit of color correction. So-called photography “purists” turn their noses up at digital photography and the use of Photoshop altogether… yet those same people will “push” an exposure in the darkroom to get similar results. I don’t see the difference. If I was able to shove the information into the camera, there’s no integrity in making sure I get the exposure and color the way I want it.

Compositing, however, is something about which I believe all photographers should be up front and honest. In this case it hardly matters, but I still insist anyway. That way if I ever pull off an amazing photo and there’s any question as to its authenticity, I don’t have a history of trying to pass off Photoshopped work as authentic. This ain’t Reuters! Oh darn…I hope that didn’t put an end to doing contract work for ’em. In any case, if someone puts out doctored photos, they deserve to be called on it. That’s especially true of a news service, not just some guy spouting opinions on a site that only gets a couple thousand hits a day!

It’s a BUOY!

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Now that construction of the new Liberty Memorial Bridge has begun, these buoys line the area north of the existing bridge and south of the construction zone. Boaters and PWC riders are asked to slow down through these areas.

It’s good to see construction of the new bridge underway; when they first tried to get this project off the ground, nobody answered the bidding process. I’m told it was a combination of volatile steel prices, concrete availability, and crew availability. Not only were raw materials in high demand with prices changing rapidly; all the crews were busy in the gulf coast region, repairing hurricane damage. Finally a builder came through, and we’re proceeding.

It’s a BOY!

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Yep, that’s right…a little future motorcycle racer! My wife disagrees with me on that point, but we are in agreement that we’re having a boy. We had our first ultrasound appointment today, which verified that. I guess the nurses she works with lost a wager of some sort… too bad, ladies! My doctor was right, by the way. He works with my wife, so his guess had nothing to do with being my doc.

It’s amazing what they can do with ultrasound these days, like this 3D image. I sure hope the baby gets my wife’s looks! We got to check out all kinds of stuff, from the heart to the spine to the cute little toes. I’m no ultrasound tech, but all looked pretty well to me!

For those of you who don’t know: I’ve always been afraid of having kids, ever since I was one myself. The reason for that is that I’m adopted. I don’t have a family history to draw upon, and that worries me simply because I’m a worrier. Add to that the fact that I like to have all the bases covered – and in this case, I can’t – and you have a formula for nervousness. The cure? Fervent prayer!

Naturally, Stacy is all lit up like a mother-to-be should be. Her excitement is enough to dwarf any fears I might have. While a baby means drastic change, and I don’t care much for drastic change, I might as well use the momentum from adjusting to marriage and just keep the adjustments coming. If you’ve got any parental advice, I’d love to hear it.

Landmark protected, not hacked down

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With the addition of an large new neighborhood south of Burleigh Avenue, many were up in arms regarding the fate of this tree, perhaps Bismarck’s most popular (Too bad I can’t say “poplar!”). For decades, people have passed the the right of this tree, and perhaps some daredevils to the left, while driving along Burleigh Avenue. After all this time, many don’t want to see the tree disturbed.

Growth means change, and change means…well, CHANGE. What do many die-hard Nodaks fear the most? You guessed it. Well, in this case, there’s nothing to fear for the immediate future. When the Bismarck City Commission voted to accept the annexation of a couple of plats of land to be used in this neighborhood, the question of the tree came up. As it turns out, the tree will be more protected than ever: it will be surrounded by curb and gutter. Change doesn’t have to mean you destroy the old to bring in the new…and it seems great care will be taken to avoid causing damage the the ol’ tree.

Did I hear someone at the City Commission meeting mumble “good hangin’ tree” or was that my imagination?

Can you believe it’s been a year already?

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No, not the blog…my marriage to my beautiful bride, Stacy! We celebrated after church with the unequaled Peacock Alley brunch buffet. Their deep-fried french toast is absolutely my favorite breakfast food.

Some people say the first year of marriage is the hardest. If that’s the case, it ain’t all that bad. Of course, we’ve been very blessed in that we have not faced a ton of adversity. I admit that, as a long-time bachelor, it’s been a bit of a challenge to change my ways. I’ve gone from 5 or 6 motorcycles to 3. My time is no longer my own and I can no longer fly by the seat of my pants; girls like to make plans. No problem. It may be a big change, but a worthy one.

The Bible tells women “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” That’s in Ephesians 5:22-24. Notice something important here: it tells this to the wives, NOT to the husbands.

What does the Bible tell husbands? “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” … “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.” … “Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” That’s in Ephesians 5:25, 28, and 33. Guys aren’t told “you’re the head of your wife.” We’re instructed to love them as we love ourselves. Not just that…we’re told THREE TIMES. Sometimes it takes us a few time to get it into our heads.

That’s just one example of what the Bible says about husbands and wives. It’s not intended to discriminate against women or render them subservient. It’s outlining the structure of a godly marriage. If both parties of a marriage fulfil their roles, things work the way God intended them to. If my wife looks to me to be the head of the house, I (assuming I have any character at all) will knock myself out to live up to that role for her. If I am a take charge kind of guy and take up my responsibilities as a husband, she can feel secure in letting me handle them. It just plain WORKS.

I, as any of the guys I know would say of themselves, have married a far lovelier woman than I deserve. I looked for her forever without success. I would pray for God to bring along a nice Christian woman to be my wife, then get up off my knees and try to find her myself. Only shortly after I finally prayed “okay, I will leave it up to you, I won’t try to do it myself,” that he finally brought her along. And I’m gonna love and serve her forever.