Hurrah!
The census isn't working. Hangs trying to reach the reset password page, and... You have to reset the password before proceeding. I get a message telling me I'm offline—but apparently only for the census...
Ingar is lovely, & it's a pity it's not more accessible. However, as I had to stop to put out an abandoned fire beside the dam before the descent on the accessible side, it may be a good thing that it's hard to get to.
There's water in the dam, you utter pillocks. I don't care if it's winter. Put your fucking fire out!FFS! 🤬 🤦
2/2
More positively, it was a great ride, apart from the stupid crash & blood. Lots of water bars for jumping—one jump was 7.81m with a hangtime of 0.74s! One of my biggest, for sure! You better believed I whooped & hollered! Possibly providing an *idiot coming* alert to the riders grinding slowly up just around the next corner🙄😂
23km 1hr10
Ascent 843m
1/2
Another glorious day. I rode Linden Ridge (no. 2) firetrail, & explored some singletrack. The firetrail is up & down, out & back, lots of water bars for jumping.
The singletrack was very slow, overgrown, & occasionally blocked by fallen trees, disappearing after 2.5km in a rocky clearing. I've ridden this track years ago, but recall it ended much earlier.
I left it a bit late to also do the Mt Twiss singletrack.
Total 34.5km, 1hr50
Ascent 760m
A wattle flower (acacia, likely floribunda). Google thinks it's longifolia, but its leaves are mostly much thinner than longifolia, & flowers less golden yellow. I've planted both 🤷
Sadly, I can never quite capture what I'm seeing in real life. The flowers are almost glowing in afternoon sunlight. Could be my astigmatism... 😂
Today's birb is a wonga pigeon, native to eastern Australia. They're large pigeons, & it always surprises me that they can fit into the feed zone (100x100mm mesh). They must be mostly feathers! I've seen up to 4 visiting at a time, but they're very shy, there may be others hiding till the monster's gone.
Tbh, I didn't like them, they looked good, but their temple fit was terrible & my OPSM couldn't fix it. The arms are too long, & they hit my hat or bike helmet, causing them to bounce around on my face, constantly changing what's in focus.
Cost a lot though. 🤬
Bloody!
Broke my specs, not entirely sure how.🤷
I made some liquid chain wax with wax & Diggers wax & grease remover (petroleum distillates). Shook the bottle, & didn't hold the lid on properly, splashing my specs. No worries, only wax, it'll clean off, easy.
Gave them a squirt of isopropyl alcohol & a rub with a cloth. Left to dry a minute. Picked them up, & they fell apart!
I can only assume a chemical reaction, but alcohol & petrol are pretty common, surely they'd be safe.
A good excuse
Apropos of nothing, I've been checking out MTB armour.
Crikey. Are Eagle Tactical involved?
Yes, yes, I get it's armour & needs to be tough. Some subtlety would be nice. I'm just an old bloke who rides a bit quickly sometimes 🙄, enjoys jumps, crashes occasionally & needs to admit I'm old enough such crashes could be serious. Hell, some much younger crashes *were* serious 😂
I don't want to be overdressed for 90% of my rides, otoh, today's ride normally doesn't need armour. It's slow!🤷
A US Republican politician has died.
No, not that one, or the one who may already be dead.
🎶
King parrots flappin'
Rosellas rappin'
Bronzewings boomin'
Kookas laughin'
Rock, rock
Rock lorikeet
Down, down
Lorikeet... rock!
Lorikeet... rock!
Let's rock!
Boys wearing lycra
Girls on mountain bikes
Everybody's rockin'
Everybody's ridin''🎶
All that because I went under a deck, and there I saw a rock. It wasn't a rock, it was a rock lorikeet. Aaaahhhh. 😂
Apologies to the B52s
Feeing glum this dampish winter afternoon?
Here, have a pair of rainbow lorikeets to brighten your day 😁
Historic termite damage. 😭 I'm finally in a mental state where I can face renovations—& I need to, the damaged area is structural, holding upstairs up—& sagging.
One estimate so far. Not cheap, things to be clarified, but... it's much less than expected, & far less than a bushfire zone knockdown rebuild.
It's contingent on discovering no more damage, of course, but I can always cut a few nice but unnecessary options.
I am *very fucking relieved* right now. I can do this.
Ok, I'm pretty sure this counts as bling. 😂
My bike's chain is starting to wear, so I'm compelled* to start acquiring & preparing a chain, cassette, & chainring in readiness. I usually buy the spec it came with, or go up a level. 🤷 Surprisingly, this otherwise standard spec KMC chain sold out of Germany cost about the same as the boring version elsewhere.
So I had to, didn't I? 😂
*damn scouts with their "dyb dyb dyb, dob dob dob, be prepared" indoctrination—it worked! 😂
It was a glorious day, so naturally I drove 60km to buy a washing machine—the less said about my attempted repair of the old machine the better...
A visitor to the banksia I planted 40 or so years ago made me happy.
Banksia Ericifolia Golden Candles, a cultivar of a local banksia that grows really well at my place.
*the original repair actually went ok, other than taking a day & a half. Something different broke, the innards were well worn, & I spat the dummy
Attention #Melbourne #Australia #motorcycle peeps!
If all goes as planned, I'll arrive in Melbourne June 12 and leave June 21. It's a work trip, but I'd like to do something fun while I'm there.
I'm thinking about renting a motorcycle and riding down to https://moonlitsanctuary.com.au on June 20, weather permitting.
It would be more fun with a buddy, and safer as well, since a buddy would help me remember to stay on the left side of the road. 😉
Want to join me?
:boost_ok: if you have Aussie followers!
Australia's largest native slug. Up to 15cm! Not this one, though, this was more like 10-12cm. You'll never guess what we whacky Australians call them... (see alt text and/or links in next toot)
My battery powered tools are great.
But.
They all have a safety switch, let it go, tool cuts out. All that is, except the angle grinder. It has a safety that cuts out if it jams with blood & bone, but it's on until manually switched off.
I can fit various spinning blades of death, turn it on, drop it, & those death blades will continue spinning through my boots & feet until jammed with blood & bone... All my other tools would cut out before they hit my foot.
Why is it so?
Moments after this shot, the goshawk flew off with the body of its prey dangling—a brown cuckoo-dove. No pic, it waited till my phone was in my pocket & I'd started to turn away. 🤣
I've seen a few goshawks hunting brown cuckoo-doves—they seem to find them tasty, or other birds are better at escaping.
Mays suck.
May 2021, we last saw Dad, Death himself banging on the door.
May 2024, Mum died.
May 2025, my younger brother died.
May 2026, my younger sister has died. 😭
May 2027, [hears a knock—looks sideways] fuck, I'm the only one left 😱
Both died over 20y younger than our parents.
I'm OK. We weren't close as such, but frequently in touch, were friendly, & her sense of humour was possibly more darkly sarcastic than mine. A great help in dark times. I'll miss her.