Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 1.55mm, f/2.4, 1/470 sec, ISO25 “Sunset Trees” Cedar Park, 2021
As the summer days heat up, my running times have shifted to later in the day to take advantage of the cooler temperatures. One big perk of this shift is the chance to see amazing sunset and twilight skies. It helps that my iPhone 12 Mini has a decent camera! When I see something worth taking a photo of, I can quickly take it out of my running belt, take my snapshots, and put it back all in a matter of a few seconds.
Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/500 sec, ISO32 “Sunset” Cedar Park, 2021
Running in the evening does have one disadvantage however: bugs! I have to keep my route away from the smaller paths and trails that have a lot of flying insects because it’s no fun to inhale those little creatures. ☹ But perhaps a mask is an option? I’ll have to give that a go.
If you are on Strava, let’s connect so that we can cheer each other on!
My son’s flight arrived in Austin at 11:45 pm, and I wasn’t expecting it to be crowded at the airport, but the cell-phone parking lot was super-busy. And when I drove to the arrivals area at 12:15 am, the traffic was backed up like crazy! I couldn’t believe it. It took a while to get to where my son was waiting but other than that, it was fine.
By the way, my usual bedtime is 10:30 pm. So I was pretty sleepy. But I am glad Bay is home and had a good trip. 😊
This morning I went on an old-fashioned cruise through the Texas Hill Country. We live close to a popular route for motorcyclists: RM 1431. The best stretch winds from Cedar Park to Marble Falls, filled with long sweepers, and many ups and downs. There are only a couple sharper bends, but nothing I’d call a twisty, and as long as you use the speed warning signs as your cue, you’ll be fine. In fact, I’d say the lowest your speedometer would drop to is maybe 45 mph / 72 kph, and I tend to ride conservatively.
I’ve ridden RM (Ranch-to-Market) 1431 many times, and it’s always really fun. It’s nice to just cruise at a leisurely pace or you can twist the wrist a bit and see what your motorbike can do. There are even several slow-vehicle passing sections too which can be helpful.
I prefer to ride in the early morning when there are barely any cars. On the way to Marble falls at 7:30 am, there were only a handful of other motorists, but on the way home, I saw a lot more cars and motorcycles heading in the other direction. So if you’re like me and prefer the open road, head out early!
Please check out the POV videos I recorded on the ride:
I hope you had a nice day!
I hope you had a great day!
Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/200 sec, ISO32 “Kiki” Cedar Park, 2021
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1600 “Dragon Zakura Reunion” Cedar Park, 2021
Today I watched the final two episodes of Dragon Zakura 2. It was a great continuation of the first series, which aired 16 year earlier. What I really liked about it was that besides Abe Hiroshi reprising his role, Nagasawa Masami returned in a starring role. In the original series, she was one of the students in the class that was aiming for admission into Tokyo University, and in this series, she is now a lawyer, after graduating from Todai.
The plot of Dragon Zakura 2 is more complicated, with deeper subplots, but both stories were interesting, and both casts were also very good. It was really cool that almost all of the original students came back for cameos in the second series. I actually didn’t think Aragaki Yui (whose is enjoying a successful acting career) would come back, but in the final few minutes of the last episode, she makes her cameo. In fact, only Yama-P didn’t return, which I didn’t really care about anyways. 😄
I highly recommend both Dragon Zakura and Dragon Zakura 2. Lots of fun!
Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/30 sec, ISO500 “Quill Stem” Cedar Park, 2021
One thing I’ve learned while restoring my Peugeot bicycle is that the cast alloy stems used on many of the bicycles of that era are prone to catastrophic failure. In fact, they have the nickname “death stems”! With that in mind, I ordered a modern quill stem to replace my old one.
The old stem has a 22 mm diameter, but modern bicycles are 22.2 mm diameter so the new stem requires a little modification to make it work. Basically, you have to shave off that .2 mm using sandpaper or a file. I opted to use the file to quickly take off the extra width, then sandpaper to clean it up a bit.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO3200 “Filing Stem” Cedar Park, 2021
Before putting the stem in the fork, I put a light coat of marine grease on it to prevent corrosion and make it easier to remove later.
The new stem has a handlebar clamp that will accommodate the common 25.4 mm handlebar size but my old handlebars are about 23 mm, so I thought about buying some new handlebars. For now, I will try these shims to fit the original bars to the new stem. I might buy wider bars in the future, but I’d also like to keep Sophie as close to original as possible.
Another advantage of the new stem is that it is a bit longer and I can position the handlebars a little higher making for a slightly more upright riding position.
I’m excited to ride with the new set up (as soon as the shims arrive)! It will be nice to be able to ride in the drops without the nagging thought of the stem breaking and crashing the bike.
